


Meet Me

by filthy_nebula



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Does 30k words count as slow burn?, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/F, It's enemies to lovers so I mean, Some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-18 19:41:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 34,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16523408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/filthy_nebula/pseuds/filthy_nebula
Summary: Waverly and Nicole met at a party when Waverly was in university. They shared a moment but parted on bad terms, and both thought they'd never see each other again. Flash forward 3 years and Nicole shows up in Purgatory, working as a deputy for the sheriff, and Waverly isn't sure how she feels about it. Between unresolved guilt over the night of the party, and the fact that she's currently in a relationship, Waverly can't seem to decide whether Nicole is someone she can't stand, or can't get enough of.





	1. I'm here, awaking you

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work for WE and the Wayhaught pairing but I freakin love these two so I figured I'd go ahead and pull something together. Procrastinate more homework in the meantime.
> 
> In this fic I don't explicitly mention the Earp curse or many demon-y occurrences. It's mostly just focusing on Waverly and Nicole, so that stuff is all secondary. 
> 
> Currently planning 3 or 4 chapters for this bad boy.  
> Hope y'all enjoy!

_3 years earlier_  

Waverly spun around in the foyer of Chrissy Nedley’s rented bungalow, showing off her gold-sequinned skirt and low cut tank top.

“You’re looking good!” Chrissy whistled appreciatively from the couch where she was sitting. “No one will be able to take their eyes off of you tonight, for sure! In part due to that abomination of a skirt you’re wearing, but somehow you pull it off,” Chrissy rolled her eyes, “As per usual.”

Waverly clicked her tongue at her best friend. “Don’t be silly, Chris, you rock any outfit. You’re drop dead gorgeous.”

“Waverly Earp, I appreciate that to the fullest, but we all know you can make anything look good. Even…,” Chrissy’s eyes glanced at the flashy piece of fabric once again before she sighed, “well, let’s just leave it at that.”

“Come on, lets get going,” Waverly said, smirking at Chrissy and slipping on her jacket. “Before all the good boys are taken,” she joked. 

Chrissy got up from the stairs and walked to the front door, sliding on a pair of black, heeled boots before shrugging on a leather jacket. “Pfft, if they are, they’ll be ‘untaken’ the moment you walk through the door, believe me.” 

Waverly just rolled her eyes and led the way out the front door, on her way to what she anticipated was going to be the most epic party of her third year at BCU. 

The Big City was less than an hour away from her and Chrissy’s hometown of Purgatory. Waverly was staying in residences, but Chrissy rented a house with several other students. The fact that Chrissy actually had her own bathroom with ample counter space was the main reason they’d decided to get ready for the party at her house. Waverly’s living situation just wasn’t cut out for the 3 hour routine the two women had when prepping for a night out.

“Ok, so, the party is at Russell’s place,” Chrissy relayed, all business-like, “meaning we should definitely be bringing our own liquor. That man supplies nothing good.” The woman shuddered under her jacket as they walked towards the cab waiting for them out front.

“Way ahead of you, Chris,” Waverly cooed at her, pulling a couple of flasks out of her purse.

Chrissy’s eyebrows raised a fraction before she cracked a wide smile. “Should’ve known you’d come prepared, you’re an Earp.”

“Is that a dig at my dead, alcoholic father?” Waverly teased. She was long past the point of grieving over Ward, the alcoholism had been the least of his issues as a father. 

“I would never,” Chrissy feigned offense, laying a hand across her chest, before both girls broke into laughter as they got into back of the cab. 

“83 Holland Way, please,” Waverly said sweetly. Their driver merely nodded before pulling away from the curb and leaving them to their conversation.

“This party is going to be insane,” Chrissy commented for what might’ve been the third time in the past hour. “Russell and his friends have practically invited the entire campus.”

“Ugh, you know that means all the jocks will definitely be there,” Waverly sighed. 

“Waverly, you’re on the cheer squad. You’re a jock.”

Waverly merely waved her hand dismissively. “You know what I mean. The gross jocks.”

“Oh yes, like darling Champ Hardy,” Chrissy teased. “We know how he feels about you.”

“Ew. Shut up, Chrissy. When we get there we need to find something to mix this with ASAP.” Waverly gestured at her purse.

“What did you bring, anyways?”

“Vodka for you, whiskey for me.”

“Well,” Chrissy laughed, “you are an Earp after all.”

____________________

_Present day_

“Waverly, can you please, please, please just bring a couple lattes by the station? Please,” Wynonna begged over the phone. “Dolls is being his usual moody self and if I don’t get caffeine to pull me through this hangover, on top of his pouty attitude, you will be hearing from me next via a handwritten letter from prison on account of me murdering my boss and any other person who crosses my path this morning.”

“Jeez, you sure Dolls is the only moody one today.”

“Bring the coffee, baby girl, or I bring the pain,” Wynonna threatened before hanging up. 

Waverly rolled her eyes. “She’s so dramatic,” she grumbled to herself, but she resolved to stop by the cafe and get the precious coffees, just as soon as she was finished getting dressed.

It was autumn in Purgatory, which meant brisk winds, cold nights, and hints of the approaching winter made visible in the thin layers of frost which had begun to coat the town each morning. Waverly had pulled an extra blanket out of her closet to add to her already well-blanketed bed. She liked to be cozy.

She pulled on tight jeans, a tank top, and bomber jacket, before slipping on her boots and checking herself out in the full length mirror she kept at the end of her bed. Her bedroom wasn’t big, the apartment itself was rather cramped, but living above Shorty’s had had its perks, especially since she was still working evening shifts. Her accommodations were subject to change, however, now that Wynonna was back in town and apparently staying put. Waverly could hardly believe it, but it seemed to be true since her sister had gone so far as to suggest that they move back into the Earp homestead together.

Waverly looked around her small bedroom. Yes, living above Shorty’s had advantages, but moving back into her childhood home would have its own as well. Time with her sister, more space, and vastly improved decorating potential. She resolved to take Wynonna up on the offer and move out as soon as she was able.

Checking the time, Waverly grabbed her keys and wallet off her dresser before locking up and moseying down the stairs to the main bar. It was around 8:47 in the morning, which meant that Wynonna had realistically only been at work for a solid five minutes before she’d called Waverly. She could handle Dolls a little while longer, Waverly saw no need to rush. 

_

It was almost a full hour later by the time that Waverly pulled into the parking lot of the police station. It still gave her pause each time she did. She had many memories of coming there under different circumstances, generally picking up Wynonna from the drunk tank or bailing her out for some ‘light’ B&E, as she’d put it. It had been a bit of a shock when Wynonna turned law and started working with Dolls, investigating strange happenings in the Ghost River Triangle, but Wynonna was good at it and Waverly wouldn’t complain. 

She began humming as she pulled herself out of the Jeep and grabbed the tray of coffees from the passenger seat. They were still warm, she’d only picked them up ten minutes ago. It was just that she’d taken her sweet time getting to the cafe. She shrugged to herself thinking about it. It was her day off, she wouldn’t be rushed.

She locked the Jeep over her shoulder, tray of coffees balanced in one hand, as she walked the familiar steps into the station. Wynonna and Dolls’ operation was run out of some of the vacant offices at the back of the building, so Waverly essentially had to walk past the entirety of Purgatory’s finest in order to reach her sister. As she passed the doorway that led to the offices of the deputies and Sheriff Nedley, a rare sight caught the corner of Waverly’s eye: red hair.

She didn’t stop, but she turned her head enough to take in the woman standing in the doorway. Her back was turned, she was speaking to another woman seated at a desk, but Waverly could still run her eyes over the woman’s figure.

She was taller than Waverly, her red hair was done in a braid that was just long enough to settle between her shoulder blades. She was slim through the shoulders, but underneath the officer’s uniform that hugged her frame, Waverly could tell the woman was toned. The pants that they had the officers wearing were a crime in and of themselves, but in this case they served to make the redhead’s legs appear even longer. She took it all in within a second, before turning back to her walk down the hall. Waverly figured the woman must be new, but with red hair like that she’d be well known around town in no time. Waverly had only seen hair like that one time before, really, back when—

“I’m sorry, Officer Haught, but Sheriff Nedley isn’t in. I’ll let him know you stopped by.”

At the mention of the woman’s name, Waverly almost dropped the coffees she had been balancing so professionally. 

_Haught._

____________________

_3 years earlier_

As the girls had expected, the party was already well into its maniacal swing when they arrived around 10:30. As Chrissy paid for the cab, Waverly caught sight of at least three different makeout sessions taking place in various areas of the front yard, porch, and driveway. A game of ‘beersbee’ was occupying the front yard, lit by the streetlights, with spectators nearby cheering for their favourite frat duo on either team. Chrissy thanked the driver and the cab sped off, while Waverly’s ears picked up the thumping bass that must have been emanating from the basement of the house. Her friend let out a long whistle. 

“This is like something out of a movie,” she breathed, a little awestruck, and nudged Waverly in the shoulder. “Look at Brianna and Tyler-“ she was directing Waverly’s gaze to a couple locked in an aggressive kiss next to the garage, “-who do you think will regret that more tomorrow?”

“Probably depends on how far it goes,” Waverly replied before leading them towards the front door.

Russell Thompson’s house was located in one of the Big City’s plentiful suburbs. It had a modest front yard, a garage with a driveway that spilled onto the main street, a front porch, and two stories of beautiful, suburban home that Waverly suspected were in complete disarray already. She offered a silent prayer for Russell’s parents, but if the rumours were true, they cared very little about the antics of their college-student son. It was why the best parties happened at Russell’s. 

The girls made their way through the front door, dodging several guys who’d already made it to the absolutely belligerent level of drunk and were human mario-karting through the house. Chrissy spotted one of her classmates and let Waverly know she was just going to go over and say a quick hello.

“No worries, Chris, I’ll make us some drinks. Meet me in the kitchen!”

Chrissy nodded before heading off towards the living room, likely the tamest room in the house. It was filled with people mingling around, sitting and chatting or else playing card games. The more rambunctious events were taking place either outdoors or in the basement, while Waverly suspected that the second floor of the house was being reserved for more ‘private’ uses.

Waverly rounded a corner and entered the kitchen. She was no stranger to Russell’s house, he’d hosted a party every year they’d been at BCU. This party was just a little bit bigger, a little bit crazier. He soared to new heights each year, as he put it. The kitchen was set up with everything anyone could possibly need: liquor and mix were lined up along the countertop that ringed the room, while snacks of various kinds were scattered on the island in the centre. She thought she spotted a bag of weed behind the coffee maker but she didn’t bother to check it out. She saw the bottles of mix and stacks of Solo cups and made a beeline. 

Waverly poured vodka and sprite for Chrissy and whiskey with coke for herself. She had just turned around to lean against the granite countertop and wait for her friend, lifting her drink to her lips, when someone she’d never seen before walked into the room. 

It was the woman’s fiery red hair that first caught Waverly’s attention. It was loose and long and fell neatly around her face. That face almost caused Waverly to choke on her drink because, damn, this woman was super attractive. She was wearing a loose-fitting grey v-neck that plunged very, very low, although Waverly forced herself not to stare. Her bare arms were obviously toned and her jawline alone was enough to force Waverly to clench her teeth, lest her own jaw drop embarrassingly low. The woman’s outfit was made complete by dark blue jeans and black high-topped shoes. Waverly considered herself straight but, again, damn. It was a second or two before she registered that someone was speaking to her.

“Sorry, but do you know where the alcohol is in this place?”

Waverly startled a bit at being brought back to reality, and once she registered the woman’s question she hurried away from the countertop.

“Sorry-“ when had her voice become so breathy and high-pitched “-I was blocking it, its all just back here!”

“Hoarding it all for yourself, were you?” the woman replied coyly, raising an eyebrow in amusement. Waverly let out a laugh that somehow sounded like a choking bird.

“Ahh ha ha, yeah, like a dragon.” She made a mental note to hit herself over the head with her History of Mesoamerica textbook when she got back to her residence. 

Thankfully, the redheaded woman let out a friendly laugh before pulling aside the ingredients she needed for her drink. “I’m Nicole,” she offered, glancing at Waverly as she reached for the offensively large bottle of rum that Russell had provided for his guests. 

“I’m Waverly. Waverly Earp.” She wasn’t sure why she provided the last name. Everyone in Purgatory knew the Earps, but in the Big City she was somewhat detached from the small-town know-it-alls.

“Nice to meet you, Waverly Earp,” Nicole smiled, extending her free hand, the other now reaching for the 2L bottle of coke on the counter. “My last name is Haught.”

Waverly recovered some of her poise, smirking at the woman next to her. “You’re kidding right?” she asked, shaking the woman’s hand. She tried not to let her addled brain linger on how soft her offered hand was.

“Nope,” Nicole chuckled. “And don’t try any nicknames, I guarantee you I’ve heard them all.”

“Noted,” Waverly replied, smiling into the rim of her cup as she brought it back up to her lips. As she took a sip, she noticed that Nicole was making two drinks instead of one.

“Double-fisting tonight?” Waverly teased. Nicole shook her head, laughing. 

“No, no. It’s for my girlfiend, Shae.”

Waverly’s eyebrows rose. “Shae Pressman?”

“Yeah, you know her?” Nicole turned so that she was standing next to Waverly with her back against the counter as well.

“I mean, she’s the star of the women’s field hockey team so, I feel like everyone knows her,” Waverly replied.

 Nicole took a sip, a bemused look on her face. “Yep. That’s Shae.” 

“And you’re her… girlfriend-girlfriend?”

“That I am.”

With the new information, Waverly gave Nicole another once over. She’d known that Shae was gay, but she hadn’t known about her smoking hot girlfriend. Lucky lady. 

“So, Nicole _Haught_ ,” Waverly emphasized the last name, wiggling her eyebrows at the taller woman. “What are you taking at BCU?”

___________________

_Present day_

Waverly gripped the tray in both hands, white knuckles clenching as she hurried down the rest of the hallway to Wynonna and Dolls’ office. She was moving so quickly she almost ran right into Dolls, who was coming through the doorway just as she was entering it.

“Easy there, Waverly,” he rumbled, placing both hands on her shoulders and steadying her, also preventing her from ramming right into his chest. He glanced down at the lattes. “Those for us?”

Waverly simply nodded vigorously before managing a gritted, “Where’s Wynonna?”

Dolls gestured over his shoulder. “She’s in the back, reading over a case file. I’m just heading out for a second, I’ll be back real soon.” He looked at the coffees in the tray once more. “Mine?” 

Waverly absently handed him his latte before rushing past to find Wynonna. Her sister had her head buried in a file detailing some nefarious going-ons in the area, no doubt. Any other day Waverly would’ve cracked some joke about seeing Wynonna actually reading something for once, but today she couldn’t pull together the humor. Not with what she’d just overheard in the hallway.

She slammed the tray down on in front of her sister, coffee sloshing through the small openings in the lids.

“She’s here.” 

Wynonna glanced up from her reading. “Whoa there, Waverly. What’s got you so worked up? You’re spilling my precious caffeine all over this dumpster fire of a case.”

“She’s. Here.” Waverly repeated, more forcefully this time. 

“Who’s here, kid?”

“Nicole Haught.”

It took Wynonna a moment before recognition dawned on her face.

“No way. Nicole from the-“

“Yes.”

“With the-“

“Yes.”

“Who you-“

“Yes, Wynonna!”

Wynonna let out a slow whistle. 

“Damn. Wonder what she’s doing here.”

“She’s a deputy!” Waverly cried, clenching her fists and doubling over the desk, resting her head on the wooden surface. “A deputy here!” 

After a few moments of silence, Waverly glanced up at Wynonna. She looked like she was torn between wanting to console her baby sister and laughing her ass off.

“Jerk,” Waverly grumbled, not giving her the chance to do either. Wynonna rolled her eyes.

“Listen, baby girl, you don’t have to see her at all. I mean sure she’s working in town now, unfortunately in the same building as yours truly, but realistically it’s not like you two have to cross paths. Did she see you walking in?”

Waverly shook her head.

“Well then there ya go,” Wynonna continued, “she doesn’t even know you’re here.”

“She knows I’m from here, Wynonna.”

“Yeah, that was three years ago when you were still in university. Maybe you’ve outgrown the small town and moved to a big city that matches your big brain. She wouldn’t know either way, so just keep your head down and you’re in the clear.”

Waverly let out a heavy sigh. “Why me?” 

_

It was more or less as Wynonna said it would be. After Waverly performed an acrobatic routine reminiscent of her cheerleading days in order to escape from the station without being seen, her risks of running into Nicole dropped dramatically. 

So, life was more or less as normal as it had been. Waverly continued working at Shorty’s, but she moved back to the homestead the same week she’d seen Nicole at the station. She figured living out on the outskirts of town would further increase the likelihood that they’d never run into each other. Champ Hardy, her boyfriend of three years, was less than thrilled about the move, since it meant more driving for him, more money spent on gas, and more frequent encounters with Wynonna. He’d never admit it but she scared the living shit out of him, although Waverly and Wynonna both knew it. 

It was a Saturday morning when Wynonna finally cracked. They had just finished breakfast, and Waverly was doing dishes while Wynonna sat at the kitchen table, polishing Peacemaker, her gun.

“Seriously, Waves, why are you still dating that prick?”

Waverly turned from the kitchen sink to look at her sister. “He’s sweet?” she shrugged, sort of helplessly.

“Aha! You don’t even have a reason,” Wynonna exclaimed. “Waverly, please, you could do so much better. Like, someone with at least half a brain. Or, dare I say, a full brain, to match yours. I don’t know, someone like-“ 

“Don’t” Waverly interrupted her.

“But-“

“No.”

“Just-“ Wynonna raised her hand pleadingly. “Just one thing, please.” Waverly paused, but she waved a soapy spatula at her sister menacingly. “Imagine, if you will, an officer’s uniform-“

“Agh!” Waverly cried out, flinging soap at her sister.

“Hey! Watch it, I have a loaded firearm!” 

Waverly narrowed her eyes at Wynonna, gave one more threatening shake of her spatula, andturned back to face the sink. “Seriously Wynonna, enough with the stuff about you-know-who. It was ages ago and she seriously hates me for it.” 

“I don’t think she hates you, baby girl, you two just need to communicate.”

“Weren’t you just saying last week that I should keep my head down and avoid her?”

“I mean sure, but then you’ll be leaving all the tension unresolved,” Wynonna warned her, her tone a little too suggestive for Waverly’s liking. 

“There is no tension,” she told her sister flatly.

“Oh? So you never think about the-“

“Nope.”

Wynonna rolled her eyes disbelievingly, but otherwise returned to polishing her gun. Waverly kept her back to her sister, fingers clenched around a whisk that just wouldn’t get clean. The rag she’d been scrubbing it with just wasn’t going to do it. She kept scrubbing away though, lost in thought.

 ____________________

_3 years earlier_

“I’m actually not a student at BCU anymore,” Nicole replied, taking a long sip of her rum and coke. “I graduated with a criminology degree two years ago and now I’m training to be a police officer.”

Waverly hummed appreciatively as she took a long drink of her own. “A woman of the law. Don’t worry, officer, there’s no underage drinkers here,” she teased. 

Nicole smiled warmly at her, “I don’t want to bust anyone’s balls. I just want to make a difference.”

The sincerity of the words caught Waverly off guard. She peered at Nicole over the rim of her cup, taking yet another long sip. Only this time she found that her drink was empty.

“Wow,” she mumbled under her breath. “Slow down there, Earp.” 

Waverly set to making herself another drink while Nicole talked a bit about the training she was doing at the Big City’s police academy. It all sounded very technical, and Waverly was about to ask a few follow up questions, when Shae Pressman poked her head around the corner of the kitchen.

“There you are,” she hissed. “Come on, I’ve been looking everywhere for you. We need to talk.” 

Shae was gorgeous, in a bit of an intimidating sort of way. She was ruthless on the field and that didn’t change in her day-to-day life either. But despite her reputation for being upfront and, at times, cutthroat, she was well-liked and decently popular. She was wearing a red body suit, the top of which wore like a tank top with a very open back, while the bottom was hidden underneath black jeans that hugged her slim figure. Her hair was cut short, and while straightened it fell just below her chin. She wore a cold expression on her face as she stalked into the kitchen.

Nicole’s eyebrows furrowed at seeing Shae, presumably because the other woman did not appear happy at all to have found her girlfriend after all the searching she claimed to have done.

“Everything okay, babe?” Nicole asked.

“Yeah, fine, just come with me, ok?” She pressed, insistently.

Nicole shrugged and offered an apologetic look at Waverly. “See you around, Waverly Earp.”

“Bye-“ was all Waverly got out before Shae had tugged Nicole out of the room. “Rude,” she commented to herself, alone once again in the kitchen.

She finished pouring her drink and decided she’d go to find Chrissy, since her friend had very clearly abandoned her already. “She doesn’t even have any booze yet,” Waverly muttered, rolling her eyes.

However, as she rounded the corner, she came face to face with Chrissy, who was wearing a shit-eating grin and was accompanied by several of Waverly cheerleading teammates.

“You’ve been iced, biiiiish,” Chrissy cheered, holding a bottle of Smirnoff Ice out to Waverly expectantly. “Take a knee!”  

Waverly let out a frustrated groan before handing off her’s and Chrissy’s drinks to a squad mate and getting down on one knee. She grudgingly took the bottle from Chrissy and pressed it to her lips, tilting her head back and forcing herself to down the sweet, blue-white drink all in one go. Her friends cheered her on and made a scene while Waverly drank. Finally, she brought her head forward and presented Chrissy with the empty bottle.

“Fuck you.”

“Mhm, love you too Waves, now let’s go!” Chrissy took her drink from one of the girl’s and helped Waverly to her feet with the other hand. “There’s dancing downstairs, games outside. Preference?”

“Outside,” Waverly offered. Chrissy nodded enthusiastically and pulled Waverly down the hallway towards the back door. “I heard they’ve got beer pong set up out there.” 

The two girls made their way out into the backyard, which was, as promised, the hotspot for the party games. There were a few kegs lined up by the back fence, hosting a group of students calling for frequent keg stands. Two beer pong tables occupied the back patio, which also housed a fire pit in which a bonfire was already roaring. Music was blasting from a speaker somewhere, and someone had brought a set of Bocci balls that Waverly really hoped didn’t end up cracking someone’s head open by the end of the night.

“Pong?” Chrissy offered.

“Hell yes,” Waverly replied, and they made their way to the tables on the patio. Two games were already in progress but they called dibs on playing the winner of the game that looked like it would be over soonest. 

“Have you seen Champ anywhere?” Chrissy asked.

“No, thank god,” Waverly replied. She had zero interest in seeing Champ Hardy, let alone tonight.  

“Well, I’ll warn you if I do,” Chrissy told her, taking a long pull from her vodka/sprite. 

They chatted about classes while they waited for their turn at the table, until finally the previous game ended and they took their place opposite the defending champs. It was Perry Crofte and Bryce Cooper, who everybody called B-Train. They’d both grown up in Purgatory and so were familiar enough with both Waverly and Chrissy. They were a bit older, but they had scholarships to play for BCU’s hockey team and so were both using their full eligibility before graduating. 

“Prepare to be vanquished, ladies,” Bryce called at them from across the table.

“Prepare to have your asses whipped” Chrissy shouted back. Waverly just gave them the finger.  

“Cute,” Perry taunted, before beginning the game.

It was an intense back and forth battle, and while Chrissy and Waverly were undoubtedly the underdogs in the face of Bryce and Perry’s winning-streak, they soon garnered the support of most of the spectators, who were quickly cheering them on and giving loud hollers anytime one of the ladies sunk a shot. 

Eventually, the boys only had one cup left, and Chrissy landed a skilled shot right into the centre of it. The crowd watching let out jeers at the boys, as B-Train removed Chrissy’s ping pong ball from the cup and turned expectantly to Waverly. 

“Eat shit, shit eaters,” Waverly called, wholly unsportmanslike, as she took her shot and sunk her ping pong ball into Perry and Bryce’s final cup. “No redemption!”

The boys groaned theatrically, amiably moving aside for the next challengers to approach the table. The game hadn’t come easily though, a fact Waverly was feeling firsthand as she teetered a little unsteadily, basking in her victory. She and Chrissy opted to pass on the next game, moving aside to let a couple of newcomers have a turn.

“I’m gonna go get us more drinks,” Chrissy cooed, also feeling a buzz that was equal parts victory and alcohol. 

“Yes, pleeeeease,” Waverly drawled. “I’ll be here.”

Chrissy headed back towards the interior of the house while Waverly decided to sit herself down in a lawn chair next to the fire pit. Another nauseating scene of PDA was taking place to her left, where Jordan Connors and Ashley Welsh were pressed against each other on a stone bench that was clearly not intended to be used for the activities they were engaged in. Waverly thought if Ashley could somehow immerse herself further into Jordan’s lap, he’d fall right over the back of the seat. To her right was an empty lawn chair, and she was just about to drop her jacket into it to save it for Chrissy when who should plop down but Champ Hardy.

“Hey Waves.”

“Hello Champ,” she replied frostily.

“Hey now,” the boy put his hands up in mock surrender, “I’m just coming by to say ‘hi’, no need to give me the stone cold bitch routine. I already know your sister is so great at it.”

Waverly could really feel the liquor now. It made her a little more loose with her words, a little less guarded and definitely giving less shits about Champ Hardy’s feelings. “I’m not going to sleep with you Champ, so piss off.”

Champ’s cocky smile was replaced with a frown. “Jeez, Waverly. I get it. You don’t like jocks.” His smile returned. “Granted, you’ve never tried this one.” He winked at her.

Waverly rolled her eyes. “In your dreams, Champ.”

“Hey,” the boy sat up a little straighter, “I’ve been meaning to tell you, Shorty is looking for servers if you’re ever interested. He’s got a place above the bar that he’s willing to rent out too, in case you wanted to return to Purgatory more permanently.”

Waverly’s eyebrows rose at the offer. It was actually kind of sweet, in a way. Of course, she’d never let Champ know that. “Serving at Shorty’s? No thanks.”

Champ’s shoulders dropped a tad and he looked almost like a kicked puppy for a brief moment before his ego caught up with him. “Yeah, well. He probably wouldn’t trust you with alone the liquor anyways, Earp,” he threw at her, before getting up and stalking off.

Champ’s words hardly fazed Waverly, tipsy as she was. But she’d had enough of the fire pit and decided to wander over to the kegs near the back fence. The frat guys surrounding them were losing their minds over whoever was completing the current stand, hollering and cheering as someone balanced in a handstand over top the barrel. 

As Waverly approached, she could tell this wasn’t an average frat guy, because their body was way too skinny for someone who drank as frequently as those guys did. Her second guess was that it was a stereotypical nerdy kid who’d been peer pressured into it, but it was pretty impressive that whoever it was, they were able to hold themselves upright without help while they did it. Definitely not stereotypical nerd behaviour.

It wasn’t until she was pushing her way through the small crowd watching that she realized that it was a woman. An attractive woman, with a loose grey v-neck that was tucked into her dark blue jeans. Black, high-topped shoes pointed towards the night sky, fiery red hair tied into a loose ponytail to keep it out of her way. Nicole.

Waverly felt her jaw physically drop as she broke through the on-lookers and came to the inside of the circle, watching Nicole complete the keg stand. Waverly’s previous estimation of the woman’s strength was correct, maybe even a bit underestimated: Nicole Haught was fucking jacked. Her muscles flexed as she held herself upside down, and despite her best effort to tuck in her shirt, it was slipping on one side, exposing very clearly toned abs that made Waverly suck in a breath through her teeth, once she was able to shut her jaw, of course. 

It wasn’t long before Nicole expertly lowered herself back over the keg, to the cheers and hollers of all the spectators. A couple of the frat guys offered her high fives, while several others looked exactly how Waverly felt: completely dumbfounded, maybe a little aroused. Waverly was pretty sure she was straight but, again, damn.

Shae was nowhere in sight, so Waverly took the opportunity to call Nicole over.

“Oh, hello there Waverly Earp,” Nicole smiled at her, clearly feeling the alcohol. “Howsshit goin’?”

“Oh my god, Nicole, that was impressive as balls,” Waverly gushed. “Are you sure you want to be a police officer with skills like that?” she teased.

“Mmmof course,” Nicole hummed. “Just getting my-“ she hiccuped, “final hurrah.” She teetered unsteadily and rested a hand on Waverly’s shoulder. Waverly warmed at the touch and felt herself blush.

“You probably should pause on the alcohol consumption for a bit, I think,” she suggested, giggling a little.

“You are-“ Nicole paused for a long second, looking only a little lost “-smart.”

“Mmm,” Waverly hummed. “Let’s go sit down for a bit, shall we?” 

She led Nicole back to the fire pit and was relieved to see that Jordan and Ashley were no longer aggressively making out on the bench. Two girls were occupying the lawn chairs, engrossed in a conversation about which professor at BCU was the hottest, so Waverly gently set Nicole down on the bench before sitting next to her. Nicole immediately rested her head on Waverly’s shoulder, an awkward feat since Waverly was shorter than the other woman, but Nicole was in such a state that the kink she was likely to get in her neck didn’t appear to bother her at the moment.

“Mmm, you’re pretty,” Nicole mumbled.

Waverly blushed even more, laughed, and told her “You can’t say that, Nicole, you have a very, very, hot girlfriend.”

“Nope,” Nicole shook her head comically. At least, it would’ve been funny if Waverly weren’t a little aghast. 

“Nicole! Shae’s gorgeous, even if she can be a little frightening.”

“No, I mean she’s not my girlfriend-“ Nicole hiccuped again, or maybe it was a tiny sob, Waverly wasn't sure. “-anymore.”

Waverly pulled back from the woman leaning against her, maybe a little too quickly since Nicole teetered unsteadily to the side without Waverly’s shoulder supporting her. Waverly caught her, a hand on each shoulder, as she moved to crouch down in front of the other woman. “What?”

“She dumped me.”

“What?! When? Nicole, I saw you two together like an hour ago.” Had it really only been an hour? Waverly had the sudden urge to check her phone but she resisted. “What happened?” 

“Fuck if I know,” Nicole spat, and the venom made Waverly wonder if Nicole wasn’t as drunk as she looked. She certainly looked a little more coherent, but it could’ve just been the anger. “She pulled me aside and told me that we were through, then ditched me at this party.”

“What the hell. That’s awful, Nicole, I’m so sorry.”

“Meh,” Nicole shrugged. Waverly figured she didn’t want to talk about it anymore, and so she didn’t press. She just sat back down next to the woman and let her rest her head on her shoulder. 

It wasn’t long before Nicole reached a hand into Waverly’s lap and lazily tangled her fingers in her hand. Waverly prayed that Chrissy returned soon, and yet, a part of her desperately wished she never would. What was happening to her?

“You really are very pretty,” Nicole murmured. “Smoking hot, actually.”

Waverly smiled, biting her lip to prevent herself from breaking into a stupid grin. 

“I just need a moment,” Nicole promised, eyes closed. “Then I’ll rally, I promise.”

“Sure thing, Haught,” Waverly teased. She didn’t mind waiting, and she didn’t move her hands.

  **_**

 It was probably another 10 or 15 minutes before Chrissy returned, drinks in hand. She spotted Waverly instantly, and cocked her head to the side at the sight of Waverly’s company. In the dimness of backyard, she didn’t spot Nicole’s hand entangled with Waverly’s, and Waverly gently pulled hers free before Chrissy got too close.

“Shae Pressman’s girlfriend?” She asked quizzically when she approached. Waverly made a slashing motion across her throat but it was too late.

“Not anymore!” Nicole shouted, too loud for the conversation and definitely too loud for Waverly’s ear. She winced but otherwise didn’t move away.

“Ohhhhhh,” Chrissy nodded, understanding how it was that Waverly had come by such intoxicated company. Waverly herself felt like she might’ve been sobering up. She’d checked her phone while Nicole had rested (napped, even?) and it wasn’t even midnight. Russell’s previous parties went into the early hours of the mornings, and so Waverly was determined that the night was not yet over. Nicole just needed a second wind, and maybe some water. Never once did it occur to her to ditch the poor woman. She felt oddly protective now, given her sorry state and probably-broken heart.

“Her name is Nicole,” Waverly offered, taking her drink from Chrissy. It was another whiskey/coke and it was a strong one. She was glad for the burn of the liquor as she drank. An anchor of sorts in the bizarre evening that was shaping up. Seriously, when would her heart stop fluttering?

“I’ve heard of her. I’m sorry to hear about-“ Chrissy put a hand to the side of her mouth, whispering, “the breakup.”

“Honestly, I’m not even sure what happened,” Waverly told her. “I don’t think Nicole knows either. Seemed very sudden.”

“Oh, it was,” Nicole piped up. “It’s fine though, honestly, because now I have you two!” She lifted her head from Waverly’s shoulder. “I feel like I am going to rally now. First, gotta hydrate, and then we get wild!” 

Chrissy’s eyebrows raised at the woman’s antics. “You sure she’s alright to go?”

Waverly shrugged. “How should I know? I just met her.”

“Guys, trust me,” Nicole assured them, sitting upright on her own for the first time in 20 minutes. “I got this.”

_

Sure enough, Nicole did have it. They’d made their way to a main floor bathroom and got Nicole some water. Then, they’d all checked their makeup to make sure they were still looking good. They were. Nicole told them both several times how pretty they were, which was hilarious given that the woman was still clearly feeling the buzz from her keg stand, and yet somehow it annoyed Waverly a little. Nicole had already called her pretty, why did she do it again? And Chrissy too? Did she just call everyone pretty? She pushed the feeling aside, however, and the girls went out to find more fun.

It was in the living room that they found their next activity. Someone had broken out the infamous ‘flabongo’, and calls for chugging were erupting around the room. 

“So much for the tame room,” Chrissy laughed as she led them inside. 

“Newcomers!” someone shouted cryptically, and, over the thrum of music, they were accosted with shouts calling for them to be the next victims of the beer bong. The flabongo was thrust into Waverly’s hands, and so she was ushered to the middle of the living room where everyone could cheer her on. 

The flabongo was a glorified lawn ornament, quite literally. It had once been a pink lawn flamingo, but its legs had been removed and the tip of its beak snipped off. Now, a hole in the flamingo’s belly served as the top of the bong, and the tip of its beak served as the mouthpiece. It made regular appearances at Russell’s parties.

Waverly put the flabongo to her lips and waited for the inevitable cheers of “chug, chug” as someone, she thought it was B-Train, poured beer into the belly of the bird. It wasn’t her first rodeo with the flabongo, and she downed the pour with ease. She passed the bird off to Chrissy, who also finished her chug with no problems. While Chrissy was occupied, Waverly caught Nicole eyeing her. She looked impressed. Waverly winked at her and was rewarded with the sight of Nicole bitting the corner of her lip, almost subconsciously, until Chrissy passed off the flabongo to someone else and interrupted their moment.

“Sorry Nicole,” she laughed, “but I think you need a little more sobering up time before taking on the bird.

“Sure thing, mom,” Nicole smiled, rolling her eyes. 

The rapid chugging began to hit Waverly as they left the living room and walked back down the hallway. It was the combined beer and whiskey/coke that had her back on a buzz, and she laughed sweetly, pulling Nicole and Chrissy towards the stairs that led to the basement.

The two girls let themselves be pulled along, all feeling sufficiently tipsy, Waverly and Chrissy having caught up to Nicole, who herself was slowly sobering up from her earlier antics. Traipsing down the stairs, they soon left the main floor behind and were immersed in the pounding music of the basement. 

Russell’s basement was typical for the upscale suburban home. It was big, spacious, and had a den at the far end complete with a flatscreen TV and ample stereo system. The stereo and speakers in particular were another one of Russell’s big draws as a party host. They could be connected to via aux cord and packed enough power to make the house shake, which, of course, it was.

The open space of the basement made it the perfect location for a makeshift dancefloor. Packed with bodies, it was like they’d walked out of a house and into a rave, complete with the light show that Russell had rigged up in the ceiling’s potlights. Coloured bulbs served to make the room feel like the inside of a club rather than a carpeted basement.

“Let’s dance!” Chrissy shouted over the thrumming baseline. Waverly and Nicole simply nodded their agreement and followed their leader through the crowd of people.

Chrissy led them to a small opening in the middle of the dance floor and the three of them were able to dance as a group to the pounding music. It was a couple songs before Chrissy spotted someone nearby and got Waverly’s attention.

“I see Kal, I’m gonna go say hi!”

“Sure, ‘say hi’,” Waverly teased her, “Just like you two ‘said hi’ behind the shed in your backyard last week?”

Chrissy merely shrugged and left them with a wink before disappearing into the crowd. Nicole glanced over at Waverly questioningly.

“A guy,” Waverly explained. Nicole nodded knowingly.

Chrissy’s absence served to make Waverly acutely aware of Nicole dancing next to her. With the three of them she’d just been dancing with friends, a little bit drunk and a whole lot of not giving a fuck. Somehow she felt that the dynamic had changed. Without Chrissy, it was just Waverly dancing next to a girl she barely knew. Who made her blush and her heart pound, and who held her hand and, well, damn.

Waverly thought maybe she was just overanalyzing things because she knew Nicole was gay. Or she assumed she was gay. She could’ve been bi, she supposed. She suppressed the urge to ask the other woman in the middle of the crowded dancefloor. Instead, Waverly just kept swaying to rhythm of the music and tried not to think about how she felt a creeping desire to inch closer to Nicole. She considered herself straight, she thought. But damn.


	2. Vain decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will update on Thursdays from here on out! Also the chapter count is now gonna be 4 total
> 
> The song featured in this chapter is called Meet Me by Mickey Valen (feat. Noé). It's also the inspiration for the main/chapter titles of this fic AND I could not get it out of my head while writing this.
> 
> Hope you enjoy :)

____________________

_Present day_

“Hey, Big Brain, hello?” Wynonna was calling.

Waverly pulled herself from her thoughts and turned from the sink to face her sister. “Yeah?”

“I was asking you what you have planned for today, while you were off daydreaming.”

“I’m supposed to meet Champ around 1:00, and I have a bartending shift starting at 4:30,” Waverly provided, checking the time in the process. “Damn, almost 11am already? I better go start getting ready.”

“Oh baby girl,” Wynonna drawled sadly, “You put 2 hours of work into a meeting with Champ? You’re worse off than I thought.” She only narrowly dodged the freshly washed spoon that Waverly threw at her head. 

“Ok, but actually,” Wynonna continued, “I’m sad you aren’t free, I was going to ask you to come shoot target practice with me.”

“Another time, big sis,” Waverly replied before heading out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her room. 

“It was another time last weekend, asshole!” Wynonna called to her, but Waverly was already gone.

_

The weather was nice, albeit a little chilly, as Waverly climbed into Champ’s truck.

“Where are we off to?” she asked.

“That’s a secret, baby, but it’ll be amazing I promise.”

He turned back onto the highway and cranked up the radio. He sang obnoxiously while Waverly gazed out the window. She didn’t mind it, for once, given that she was too lost in thought to pay him much attention. 

It wasn’t until a bit later, when Champ was driving his truck along the outskirts of town, that he brought up the last topic Waverly had expected to hear from him.

“So, babe, you’ll never guess who I saw in town today. That hot dyke from Russell’s party—“

“You shouldn’t call her that,” Waverly interrupted.

“Dyke? I called her ‘hot’ first, its fine,” he laughed, ignoring Waverly’s look of disgust. “Anyways, I guess she’s like a security guard or something-“

“She’s a police officer.”

“How’d you know that?”

“Because I saw her in uniform at the station last week,” Waverly replied tiredly.

“Whoa, whoa. And you didn’t tell me? How’d she look in that outfit? Fucking smoking, I bet.”

“Ugh, enough about Nicole!” Waverly shouted.

“Nicole! That’s her name, right. Damn she’s hot, hey,” Champ continued. “Not as hot as you, of course.”

Waverly just crossed her arms and sunk into the passenger seat, refusing to listen to Champ as he rattled on about what made her, and Nicole, so hot. Waverly knew Nicole was attractive, she just didn’t need her stupid boyfriend to remind her of it. 

Finally, Champ pulled the truck down a dirt road off from the edge of town, eventually pulling onto the shoulder and putting it in park. The edge of a forest stood in front of them, and endless fields stretched to either side. The town had disappeared over a rise behind them. He looked over at Waverly with a cocky grin, and pointed his thumb over his shoulder towards the truck bed.

“Got a couple of blankets back there if you wanna, you know,” he suggested slyly, probably thinking it was sexy. Waverly had never felt less turned on in her life.

“Absolutely not, Champ.”

“Huh?” He was obviously confused at the refusal.

“For starters, it’s freaking October in the Ghost River Triangle, which means it’s definitely too cold out. Also, you spent half the car ride here talking about how hot another woman was, so that makes me want to have sex with you, how, exactly?” Waverly fumed. 

They were really just excuses, she knew. She wasn’t annoyed that Champ called another woman hot. She was annoyed that she agreed with him, not to mention pissed off that he had objectified her like that. Besides, it was definitely too cold out for sex.

“Jeez, Waverly, sorry,” he grumbled. “What do you even wanna do then? Why’d I bother driving way out here?”

“Beats me,” she shot at him icily, “I didn’t pick the location. But I know you keep a hunting rifle in the back so if you don’t mind, I’m going to go shooting.”

With that, Waverly threw open the door and hopped down out of the truck. She opened the back side door and grabbed the rifle and a box of ammunition before slamming the door shut again. She stalked off into the nearby field, leaving Champ in the truck by himself.

“Crazy fucking Earps,” he muttered, before climbing out and following Waverly into the field.

_

“I’m gonna say it again, baby girl. I have no idea why you’re with that snivelling little shit.”

Wynonna was leaned over the bar, beer bottle in one hand while she pointed dangerously at Waverly with the other. “You’re seriously way too good for him.”

“Enough, Wynonna. Please? I’m just not in the mood. Plus I’m trying to work.”

Happy hour at Shorty’s was usually a busy time, and the Saturday nights in particular did not disappoint. Waverly was glad for the relative peace that working behind the bar offered. She was not jealous of any of the other servers tonight. Shorty himself was a treasure but his clientele? Not so much. 

“Fine, fine,” Wynonna caved, waving her hand dismissively. “If you need me, I’ll be here.”

Waverly turned and began making drinks for one of the server’s tables, two draught beers and a gin & tonic. She was just finishing the second pour of beer when she heard a familiar voice approaching the bar from somewhere behind her.

“Happy hour at Shorty’s,” Sheriff Nedley was saying “Home to Purgatory’s… less ‘finest’,” he added dryly.

Waverly turned to greet Nedley, and was confronted by the last person she wanted to see.

Nicole was pulling up a stool next to the sheriff at the bar counter, her eyes avoiding Waverly as she settled herself on the seat.

“With all due respect, Sheriff, what exactly are we doing here?” she asked politely, although Waverly thought she caught a tinge of annoyance in Nicole’s voice. 

It’d been three years since the night they’d met, and Nicole was still as gorgeous as she’d ever been. She was still tall, still lean, and still easily confident in a way that drew Waverly’s attention like a moth to a flame. It had only been one night, but even after all that time Nicole still managed to give her butterflies in her stomach and shivers down her spine. And Waverly hated her a little bit for it. She pushed to bury the warmth of those feelings down beneath a cold wall of indifference. Nicole hated her, and she wasn’t a fan of Nicole either. She could do this.

Lost in thought, she’d missed whatever answer Nedley had given to Nicole’s question, and the sheriff was looking expectantly towards Waverly. Wynonna coughed from somewhere to her right, and Waverly spun her head round to stare daggers at her sister.

“I’ll just be… over there,” Wynonna announced, breaking the silence as she drew out her words to make it painfully obvious just how awkward the situation was about to be. As if Waverly couldn’t already feel the tension building in her gut. She was going to have to interact with Nicole at some point.

“Oh, hello Wynonna,” Nedley nodded towards the older Earp before turning back to Waverly. “Two coffees please, Waverly.”

Waverly nodded stiffly, but before she could turn around and escape the predicament, Nedley gestured towards Nicole.

“This is our newest deputy, Officer Haught. Just showin’ her around the town a bit, sharing some of my tricks.”

Having no choice but to meet the other woman’s eyes, Waverly saw that her attempt at indifference paled in comparison to the cold stare she received from Nicole across the bar. Waverly wanted to kick herself for the way that her heart leapt into her throat when they locked eyes. She strived to remind herself why they hated each other, she was sure that somehow it mattered.

“Hello Waverly.” Nicole kept her gaze levelled at her, giving nothing away about what she might’ve been feeling or thinking beneath her frosty expression.

“Hi Nicole,” Waverly huffed, and she hated that she sounded so breathless. 

“Oh, you two already know each other?” Nedley was looking back and forth between them, slightly puzzled.

“We met in university,” Waverly offered.

“It’s been… a while.” Nicole commented.

“Well,” Nedley continued, “Officer Haught is, as I mentioned, a new deputy in town. We’re just here for coffees and to observe, not cause you any trouble.” 

He eyed Nicole warily, and Waverly got the sense that he had definitely picked up on the tension. Blessedly, he didn’t push the issue, simply waving Waverly away as a sort of permission to make their drinks. She took the opportunity gratefully and turned away without another word. She thought she could feel Nicole’s flat stare against her shoulder blades, but when she hazarded a glance the sheriff had already led her away to a table by the window. 

Waverly sighed as she set the coffee to brew and completed other orders that the servers had been ringing through. She tried to hold onto her indifference towards Nicole, but little by little, her resolve faltered, and she found herself spiralling into thoughts consumed by the other woman. 

Where had she been the past 3 years? Why come to Purgatory? Why now? Did she still hate Waverly? That one seemed like a ‘yes’. Where was she staying in town? Did she need a place to stay? Was she living with someone already? A roommate or… was she seeing anyone?

Waverly continued her work on auto-pilot, lost in thoughts and questions and always trying, trying, trying to remind herself that she and Nicole hated each other.

But they hadn’t always.

____________________

_3 years earlier_

Dancing in the same space, but not technically _with_ Nicole, was the rationalization Waverly had for edging closer to her little by little. The music kept playing, tracks flickered from pounding anthems to sensual basslines, and it was during those songs in particular that Waverly struggled to keep her distance.

Something about Nicole was magnetic, and the liquor didn’t help. She knew she was tipsy, maybe a little drunker than she wanted to admit, but some of her senses felt sharper. She found it easy spot the details in Nicole. The curve of her collarbones and the sharpness of her jaw. The roll of her hips to the beat of the music. Waverly found herself swallowing hard, often, as they continued to dance. Nicole often had her eyes closed, something Waverly was shamelessly using to her advantage to steal glances at her unnoticed.

It took three more songs for Waverly to edge close enough to touch, and when she did it caught her by surprise because she could’ve sworn she’d told herself not to inch any closer. But she had, and there she was, and she’d bumped her wrist against Nicole’s waist and when she looked up she found the woman gazing down at her.

Waverly opened her mouth to say sorry, but Nicole just gave a small smile and shook her head before taking Waverly’s hand and pulling her in closer. A small part of Waverly’s mind registered that this might’ve been dangerous territory: Nicole had just been dumped, and she was drunk, and Waverly was drunk, and also straight, she thought. But damn. And so the rest of her pushed that tiny voice of reason aside and let the excitement of Nicole’s soft touch, and Nicole’s insistent tug, and Nicole’s sweet scent, completely wash over her. Goodbye inhibitions, hello dirty dancing. 

The music had transitioned again to another slower song. Waverly found herself settled against Nicole, they’re hips fitted together in a way that was definitely too close for friendship. The vocals of the song began and Waverly couldn’t help but feel like the universe was taunting her.

_Been countin’ all your aces, you ain’t winnin’_

_Your phone book full of numbers ‘stead of names_

The song was sensual, no doubt. The bodies on the dance floor moved slower, the energy shifted, and everything felt dirtier, sexier. Waverly chanced a look up at Nicole and found the other woman with her head tilted forward. Waverly pressed her forehead to hers and let herself go. She reached her arms up and linked her wrists behind Nicole’s neck, and she felt Nicole’s hands press to her hips. 

_So aren’t you glad to meet me, I think you should_

_I’d be glad to meet me, if I were you_

The beat dropped, an electronic pulse that fuelled her more than even the alcohol. Waverly found herself spinning around, pressing her back into Nicole’s chest, her ass into her hips. Nicole brought her head forward and pressed her lips ever so lightly to Waverly’s shoulder, her hands gliding to the front of her waist and pulling her further into her hold. She felt Nicole’s hot breath against her ear and a warmth build low in her gut. Maybe a bit lower, too. 

It was all over in a few minutes. The song was a short one, something sober Waverly would be thankful for but drunk Waverly was of a different mind. She spun slowly back around as the song faded out, her eyes finding Nicole’s. She was pleased to see a rise and fall to Nicole’s chest: the other woman was breathless too. Waverly was becoming less certain that she was straight, because damn. 

“Do you want a drink?”

Nicole nodded earnestly and let Waverly pull her out of the mass of bodies. A table in the basement had been set aside with liquor and tiny, plastic Solo shot glasses littered the table. Waverly dropped Nicole’s hand and reached for a nearby bottle of whiskey. She poured herself a shot and gave Nicole a questioning glance. She gave a quick nod and took the shot of whiskey Waverly poured for her. They both downed them simultaneously, gasping a little at the burn. A voice in the back of Waverly’s mind told her she didn’t need any more alcohol for a while, that she should get some water and maybe some food. Probably find Chrissy. But those rational thoughts were lost beneath an overwhelming, cascading feeling of pure need. 

Nicole was looking at her intently, her lips slightly parted and her breathing still a little ragged. Waverly thought she should probably check in, see if the other woman was feeling okay. She’d had a rather eventful night, after all. But she didn’t. Instead, she took in the sight of Nicole’s chest rising and falling, the graceful strength of her arms and the cut of her jaw and above all, the look on her face that Waverly suspected was reflected on her own: longing. She made a decision.

She reached forward and grabbed Nicole by the wrist, tugging her past the crowd of dancers and towards a secluded hallway that led to the basement bathroom and bedroom. They rounded a corner and found the hallway in semi-darkness, but Waverly didn’t need any lights to see what she was doing. She’d been to Russell’s house before, and besides, the next part just was easy.

She spun to face Nicole and, before she lost her nerve, surged forward to press their lips together. 

____________________

_Present day_

As her shift dragged on, Waverly would cast nervous looks towards Nicole, always equal parts hoping and dreading that she would look back. She never did, and Waverly would chastise herself for the behaviour. A few minutes would pass and she would glance again towards the table by the window.

Nedley and Nicole left after an hour or so, and Waverly found herself pouting about how very little ‘observing’ they’d done. Nedley had just talked the entire time, and Nicole had paid expert attention to her boss. Monday night was Waverly’s next evening shift, maybe then it would be an observing kind of night, if they came by. Not that she wanted Nicole to observe her. She just wanted to plan in advance in case Nicole made an appearance. She would be stone cold, she resolved, not like today’s flustered attempts at aloofness. Maybe she’d wear her “Shorty’s” shirt that dipped a little lower than her others— 

She cut off the thought before it could spiral, telling herself, once again, that she did not like Nicole Haught in the least. She hated that she had remembered the reason why.

_

Sunday passed easily enough. Waverly worked a morning shift at the bar, which was about as thrilling as she’d expected it to be. Purgatory was small and Shorty’s was a bit of a dive— not exactly key ingredients for a hot brunch spot. She was home by 2:30 and since Wynonna was out, she settled down with a book and lost herself in the story. Eventually though, Wynonna was barging through the front door and Waverly checked the time, shocked to see that it was already past 6. She glanced up at her sister.

“Take out?”

Wynonna shrugged in an affirming sort of way before reaching the kitchen counter, tossing her leather jacket down and grabbing her favourite bottle of whiskey. 

“Long day?” Waverly asked, eyeing the bottle.

“Let’s just say there’s a family of demon bears that _won’t_ be hibernating this winter.” Wynonna took a long pull from the bottle before frowning slightly. “Because they’re dead,” she clarified. “It wasn’t my best line.”

“You know, bears have a spiritual importance to several ancient cultures. I bet I could find out what caused them to be demon-ified if you guys would just let me—“

“No, no, and no again, Waverly,” her sister cut her off, throwing herself down on the couch. “You’re not going to work with me, ok? The shit out there, the shit Dolls’ and I deal with, it’s bad and it’s scary, sometimes even for me. Ok, baby girl?” 

Waverly harrumphed in annoyance but otherwise dropped the topic. Wynonna had been an absentee sister at best for a lot of Waverly’s life, but now she suddenly decided to be all overbearing? She knew her sister meant well, though, which made it even more frustrating.

“Waverly, can I ask you about something now?”

“Sure,” Waverly shrugged.

“Ok, let’s talk about Haught.”

Waverly groaned in response. “Seriously, Wynonna?”

“Yes! I just want to know how it went yesterday, bumping into her.”

“Awful.”

“Because she still hates you?”

“She clearly does.” Waverly affirmed, “She could hardly bring herself to look at me. Not like it matters, I don’t want to look at her either.”

“Sure, kid,” Wynonna scoffed. “Just like I don’t want to look at Dolls shirtless. That man is a specimen.” 

Waverly frowned in disgust. “He’s your boss, you know.”

“Boss schmoss,” her sister replied, taking another pull of whiskey. “And we were talking aboutyour scenario, not mine.”

“There is no scenario.”

“Look, Waverly, I may not have been _around_ around when that party happened, but I remember you telling me about it after the fact. It sounded like you and Nicole had a pretty special time.”

“Ew, don’t call it special. We kissed, that was it,” Waverly protested.

“A hot kiss,” Wynonna countered. “One that practically made you forget your own name, hmm?”

“I don’t know why I tell you anything, honestly.”

“All I’m saying is, Officer Haught isn’t going anywhere so you’re going to have to learn to deal with it somehow. You clearly like her, or at least just feel bad about the party still.”

“I do not like her!” Waverly cried. “Maybe… maybe I do feel guilty about that night though, and afterwards. It would explain why I keep thinking about it.”

“Mmm, there ya go,” her sister concluded. “So either stop feeling guilty and continue to ignore her, or else reach out and make amends.”

“I can’t do that Wynonna. For starters, Champ would freak out.”

Wynonna didn’t even bother to reply, she simply levelled a meaningful stare at her younger sister before getting up and walking towards her bedroom, bottle of whiskey in hand.

“Don’t forget to order take out!” she yelled over her shoulder before disappearing down the hall.

_

Sure enough, Nedley and Nicole did show up for happy hour on Monday. Waverly was bartending again, and her counter was full of sulky patrons who all seemed to have a case of the “Mondays”, in that they talked little, ordered lots, and overall appeared pretty gloomy. The fall weather had turned cold and rainy outside, so Waverly couldn’t say that she blamed them.

She missed seeing the pair walk in, but an errant glance around the bar left her unintentionally gazing in Nicole’s direction. Her hair was in a ponytail today, and she’d shed her officer’s jacket on the back of her chair, leaving her in her button-up shirt. She must’ve been feeling more comfortable around Nedley, and the rest of Purgatory, because she’d unbuttoned the cuffs and had rolled her sleeves to 3/4 lengths. She looked very gay. Waverly gulped. She could hear Wynonna’s voice in her head.

_“You clearly like her.”_

She shook her head to dispel the thought and resumed making drinks. Neither Nicole nor Nedley approached the bar that night, and, bartending as she was, Waverly never had to approach them either. And so she spent another shift casting looks towards Nicole, receiving nothing back, and striving to decide if she hated the woman or not.

She liked to pretend that the entire night of the party was a blur, from meeting Nicole in the kitchen, to the dancing and the kiss and… the rest of it. But Waverly couldn’t lie to herself about it. She’d made a mistake that night in the way things had gone with Nicole. At the time, none of it had mattered, and even afterwards. She’d hardly seen the woman since that night. But memories of the party always nudged at her, and she’d be lying if she said she’d never seen Nicole in her mind’s eye, never relived some of the moments of that night.

But history was history. What had started out as fun had quickly turned sour. Nicole had hurt her and she’d hurt Nicole and then they’d gone separate ways and that was that. Of course, until it wasn’t, because now Nicole was in her hometown every single day. Waverly groaned as she thought, for the first time, about what that would really mean for her life going forward. When she had a moment to take a break, she laid her head down on the bar and sighed.

___

It was the first Wednesday in November when it finally happened. Nicole had been working in Purgatory for three weeks, and Waverly saw her on a semi-consistent basis on account of Wynonna’s work and Nedley’s happy hour meetings. The former happened because Wynonna loved to torture her baby sister, and found new excuses to request her presence at the police station as often as possible. Of course, all this occurred without Wynonna ever actually offering Waverly the job that she wanted. Nedley bringing Nicole to Shorty’s, on the other hand, was a regular Monday, Thursday, and Saturday occurrence, like clockwork.

Both situations always had the same results. If Waverly and Nicole made eye contact, whether at the station or at the bar, Nicole was always stand-offish and cold, Waverly was always looking for an excuse to leave. Of course she couldn’t do that at work, but she avoided the sheriff and his deputy like the plague. She’d never followed Wynonna’s advice, about either making amends or quitting with the guilt. She felt guilty, and angry, and sad, but she never reached out.

All of her efforts to stay away from Nicole came to naught, however, when met with the powers of unbiased chance. It was around 9:30 in the morning and she was leaving the cafe in town, a warm mocha in hand and her chin buried in a scarf. November had struck with a vengeance in the Ghost River Triangle, lashing out to remind the people that winter was not far from their doorstep. Waverly was checking her phone as she headed out the door. A new text from Champ flashed at the top of her screen but she elected to ignore it, and it was then that she ran headlong into someone who was trying to come inside.

She lifted her head to apologize and felt the words die on her lips. She’d crashed right into Nicole. The previous three weeks of analyzing and over-thinking every angle of the situation had done nothing to prepare her for this moment. Waverly was a planner but the universe loved its jokes.

“Hi,” she choked out. She thought she spotted the faintest of smiles on Nicole’s lips, but it was gone so quickly she could’ve imagined it. A beat passed before Nicole replied.

“You spilled,” Nicole told her, eyes tracking the path of mocha that had splashed down Waverly’s jacket.

“Oh shit nuggets,” Waverly huffed, looking down. In the shock of seeing Nicole, she hadn’t even noticed the mess. She began to pat at the spill with one of her mittens. She stopped when she heard someone laughing. Nicole laughing. Nicole was laughing at her. She looked up in disbelief.

“Come on,” Nicole was saying between chuckles, “let’s get you some napkins.”

She began to walk over to a nearby table with a napkin dispenser at its centre, until she noticed that Waverly was not following her. Waverly was, instead, staring in astonishment at the other woman.

“Waverly? You really should get out of the doorway, you know.” 

____________________

_3 years earlier_

Waverly quickly came to the conclusion that kissing Nicole was an experience better than any boy she’d ever kissed. Nicole tasted like whiskey and vanilla, and her lips were so, so soft. They moved against Waverly’s with ease.

She kissed Nicole with a sense of urgency, like pausing to breathe would shatter the moment, and they’d both realize that they were really just strangers in a basement who’d been drinking too much. She reached a hand up to Nicole’s shoulder and pushed her back against the wall, eliciting a small gasp from the taller woman as her body connected with the hard surface. She slid her other hand along Nicole’s hips and up her shoulder, before settling her fingers along her jaw. Nicole’s initial surprise melted away and was quickly replaced with an equal hunger, as she clawed at Waverly’s back, pulling at her with her nails.

They stayed like that a little while, Waverly holding Nicole between herself and the wall, Nicole pulling Waverly in for more. Eventually though, Nicole pushed off of the wall and reached behind Waverly’s thighs, hoisting her up and settling her against her body. Waverly squeaked at the sudden movement, and was more than a little turned on at the ease with which Nicole had lifted her off of the ground. The toned muscles she’d caught sight of earlier on clearly were not just for show. The woman could do a full keg stand, for fuck’s sake.

Nicole guided them down the hall, carrying Waverly and refusing to break their kiss. She led them into the bathroom, kicked the door shut behind her, and maneuvered them so that Waverly was sitting on the counter, legs still wrapped around Nicole’s waist. 

After a few seconds they pulled back from each other, breathing heavily. Through the closed door Waverly could hear the music thumping. In that moment, she thought that her heart might be louder.

“Hi,” Nicole whispered, panting, as she brought her forehead to rest against Waverly’s.

“Hi.” Waverly leaned into the touch.

They held their heads like that for a moment, but Waverly’s idle hands couldn’t rest. She traced her fingertips up the length of Nicole’s arms before moving a hand to trace along her collarbones. Nicole sucked a shallow breath through her teeth as Waverly let her nails scratch lightly along skin.

“You’re trouble, Earp.” 

Waverly could hear a rasp in Nicole’s voice that pulled her away from her ministrations. She looked up at Nicole and bit the corner of her lip.

“You don’t know the half of it.”

She pulled Nicole to her again. Only this time Nicole didn’t hold back. She let Waverly pull her in, only to take control as soon as she had her. She pressed a hand against the bottom of Waverly’s throat and nipped her teeth at her lower lip. The touches sent electricity through Waverly, and she gripped her legs around Nicole’s waist tighter, while digging her nails into her collarbones even deeper. Her free hand went to Nicole’s hair, tangling in it, as Nicole moved her other hand to the hem of Waverly’s shirt, dipping her fingers underneath and stroking along the skin.

Waverly bit at Nicole’s lip and soothed it with her tongue. She felt Nicole’s moan against her lips more than she heard it, soft as it was. Nicole’s hand pulled at the hem of Waverly’s tank top, and she sighed a little when she traced her fingertips over bare skin. It made Waverly’s breath come quicker and her body flush with heat. She knotted her hand in red hair, pulling Nicole’s head back and pressing her mouth to her neck. She parted her lips and bared her teeth, giving Nicole a soft bite before sucking at the woman’s neck. If she only got this one chance, Waverly wanted to leave a memento etched in Nicole’s skin.

She was running her tongue over the mark, enjoying Nicole’s gasps and moans and shaky breaths against her ear, when a phone rang. It had to be one of their phones, since the ringtone was obnoxiously loud within the confines of the bathroom.

Nicole stepped back from Waverly, still seated on the counter, and reached to the back pocket of her jeans. She pulled her phone out and her eyes widened at the name displayed on the screen. Waverly waited awkwardly for Nicole to do something.

“It’s… it’s Shae,” Nicole sputtered in disbelief.

Waverly felt the heat she’d had only moments ago completely dissipate. Her stomach plummeted and she let out a soft, “Oh.”

Nicole looked quickly between the phone, and Waverly, and the phone again, before making up her mind.

“I’m sorry, I’m really, really sorry. I’m just gonna see what she wants, then I’ll be right back.”

Waverly nodded and opened her mouth to say something, but Nicole had already answered the call and was turning towards the bathroom door.

“Shae, hi,” she heard Nicole stammer as she left the bathroom. As the door shut behind her, Waverly sighed.

Ending up alone in the bathroom of Russell Thompson’s basement was not how Waverly had envisioned that kissing Nicole would go. She pushed herself off of the counter and turned to look at herself in the mirror.

Her hair was a bit disheveled, her lips swollen, and the glint of her eyes hinted at the liquor flowing through her. She ran her gaze over her face, and then her neck, where Nicole had pressed against her. She felt her legs tremble at the memory of Nicole lifting her up in the hallway. 

Waverly Earp had kissed a girl. A very pretty girl. She looked over her reflection one more time. She didn’t look any different, and she didn’t think that she felt any different, except for the craving to kiss Nicole again. Otherwise, she was still Waverly Earp. Just less straight than she’d been at the beginning of the night, she thought, smiling to herself. Who would’ve guessed.

She turned away from the mirror, leaned against the counter, and pulled out her phone. It was well past one o’ clock in the morning but the party outside showed no signs of slowing down. Music still shook the walls and Waverly could only assume the games were still in full swing on the upper level.

She checked her unread messages while waiting for Nicole, and avoided thinking about the other woman’s phone call. What it could mean for Nicole, or her as well, since she’d gotten herself tangled up with the other woman. Waverly blushed at the thought, remembering their literal entanglement a few minutes ago. 

She had several unread messages from Chrissy, letting her know that she was going upstairs with Kal, and then leaving with Kal, and then at Kal’s place, and Waverly smirked as she sent her best friend the eggplant and thumbs up emojis in succession. She checked the time at the top of her screen: 1:47am. She scrolled through her instagram feed and checked again: 1:49am. She sighed and put her phone away.

A few minutes spent staring around Russell’s bathroom and she checked her phone again: 1:55am. It’d been over ten minutes since Nicole had taken her phone call. Waverly supposed it could’ve been an intense conversation. 

As the minutes crept by, she tried to fight off a rising tide of disappointment, a bitter feeling of rejection. 2 o’ clock. 2:10. 2:13. Waverly felt tears stinging her eyes. She was alone with her thoughts and the buzz from the alcohol, although it was more of a bummer than a buzz at this point, serving to drag her deeper into her spiral of misery. More than half an hour passed before someone knocked on the door, and Waverly rushed to wipe tears away from her eyes.

“Waverly?”

Instantly, she knew that the voice on the other side of the door did not belong to Nicole. She didn’t think she could feel any lower but somehow, it felt like her heart would sink through the floor. 

The knob turned and Champ Hardy poked his head in. 

“Waverly, hey, it’s been— oh shit, are you ok?” Whatever his initial thought, it was replaced with concern as he stepped inside and closed the bathroom door behind him. Concern from Champ Hardy. If she wasn’t so upset, Waverly thought she might laugh. But Nicole’s rejection hung over her: why, why, why hadn’t she come back? She felt a sob rising in her throat, and her effort to hold it down only made it come out as a choked sort of whimper.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Champ consoled her, moving from the doorway and settling in front of her. “Waverly, who did this? Who hurt you?”

“It’s nothing,” she mumbled in between small sobs. “I’m fine.”

“Waverly, come on. A pretty girl like you at a party like this? You shouldn’t be holed up alone in the bathroom, crying over some guy who doesn’t deserve you.”

Waverly tilted her head up to look at Champ. He was giving her a look of genuine concern, something she hadn’t thought physically possible for him. She hazarded a thought that maybe she’d been too harsh with Champ. He’d never _actually_ done anything wrong to her, he just rubbed her the wrong way. He was boorish and cocky and at times downright moronic. But he also wasn’t bad to look at, she supposed. Champ was fit, and probably decently strong, thanks to a childhood of working on the ranch in Purgatory. Yes, they also shared the same hometown. He knew all the same people that she knew. And even though he made no effort to hide his feelings about Waverly, he’d never actually crossed any lines. He’d always been respectful, in a ‘bare minimum’ sort of way.

Waverly wanted to punch herself in the face. She couldn’t believe that she was sitting there, rationalizing a sudden desire to like Champ Hardy. But he was the one consoling her in the bathroom, wasn’t he? Nicole was nowhere to be found, probably reconciling with her ex-girlfriend, Waverly completely forgotten. Abandoned. Kind of like Momma all over again. 

Wow, she had to be pretty drunk to go there.

Champ tentatively placed a hand over Waverly’s own, resting on her thigh. She was seated on the counter again, and he moved his other hand to pull gently on her chin, holding her gaze.

“Seriously, Waverly, what can I do?”

This was when a sober Waverly would’ve put Champ in his place. If she were sober, she would’ve told him that it wasn’t some guy who’d left her crying, but a girl, a very attractive girl. She wasn’t straight, she wasn’t sure what she was, but she didn’t want to kiss anyone else in that moment besides Nicole.

Of course, Waverly wasn’t sober. She was drunk, and even though she didn’t want to kiss anyone else, she felt like she needed to. So she did.

____________________

_Present day_

“I said you should really get out of the doorway,” Nicole repeated, still calling to Waverly from the nearby table.

Waverly shook her head and tried to ground herself again. Cafe. Spilled mocha. Nicole.

_Nicole._

She registered the woman’s voice, made her legs respond to her brain, and walked stiffly over to the table. She sat down tentatively. Nicole was already seated, holding a handful of napkins, an eyebrow raised at her questioningly.

“You alright?”

“You—!” Waverly started to shout, but a quick glance around the cafe reminded her that public displays of anger were frowned upon in small towns, especially if you carried the Earp name. She lowered her voice, but kept all the same venom. “You’ve hardly said a word to me in the past three weeks and now you— you just invite me to _sit down_ with you like we’re old friends?”

Nicole lost a fraction of her mirth at Waverly’s disgruntled demeanour, but she still held the napkins out towards her. “Would you just take these, please?”

Waverly huffed but reached out nonetheless, yanking the napkins out of Nicole’s extended hand. Several moments of silence passed between them, as Waverly dabbed at the spilled drink on her jacket and Nicole watched idly. Waverly was crumpling up the last of the spoiled napkins into one big, messy, wad of soaked tissue, when Nicole finally broke the silence.

“I’m sorry.”

Waverly looked up at her, not quite believing her ears. Nicole wore an expression of the utmost sincerity, her eyes had softened and she was frowning a little. She was looking down at her fingers where they picked at the linoleum tabletop. 

“I’m sorry,” Nicole spoke again, “for not reaching out to you when I arrived here. And for generally ignoring you and being distant these past few weeks. I wasn’t sure how to… handle the situation.”

“Pretty much any way other than ignoring me would’ve worked,” Waverly spat before she had a chance to stop herself. She sighed and added, “I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair. I didn’t reach out either.”

She knew they were talking about the past few weeks, but Waverly couldn’t help but feel like it was an apology for the past three years as well. They hadn’t reached out to each other after Russell’s party, given the way the whole night had ended. Sometimes she wondered what might have been different if she had. 

Maybe nothing at all. Nicole still had reason to dislike her, after all.

____________________

_3 years earlier_

Kissing Champ Hardy was, without a doubt, absolutely nothing like kissing Nicole. Nicole had been soft, and by comparison Champ felt coarse, like sandpaper against her skin. But Waverly didn’t care.

Champ wanted her, that much was obvious, and for a girl who’d been abandoned in the bathroom of the most high profile party of the year, she was willing to take what she could get. Not her best moment, she knew, but self-reflection and regret could come later. For now, Waverly wanted to be touched by someone other than Nicole. She had really liked kissing Nicole, but now that felt tainted. So she took all of the anger, the hurt, the bitterness, and the desire too, and channeled it into one terrible decision: kissing Champ.

Followed soon after by another terrible decision: electing to sleep with Champ.

Things were heating up between them, and she didn’t exactly want to have sex in Russell’s basement bathroom, so she broke away from Champ and simply said, “Upstairs.” He was thick but he wasn’t so stupid as to miss that message. He nodded eagerly.

Waverly led him past the throng of dancers still occupying the basement, although there were considerably fewer of them then there had been last time she’d be in the room. She knew it must be nearing 3am. She ignored the casual glances other people cast them, she knew it was obvious what was going on and she didn’t care. Drunk Waverly, Reckless Waverly, whichever label they chose to suit her would still be accurate.

They were halfway up the staircase when she saw her. Nicole stood frozen with her foot halfway between the second and third stairs from the top, and she was staring straight at them. Well, at Waverly’s hand holding Champ’s, leading him like a lost boy. Waverly froze in place and Champ bumped into her.

“Waverly, I—,” Nicole stammered. She was struggling to come to terms with what was happening, confusion plainly written across her face. She looked like she wanted to be angry, but she was concerned for Waverly as well, and hurt. Waverly couldn’t miss the wounded look that flashed in Nicole’s eyes. It was only there for a second before it was replaced with a cold, flat stare. “—I was just coming to find you.”

“Well, I’m good thanks,” Waverly replied sharply. “Champ and I are gonna head up, so—“

“Please, I don’t need the fucking details,” Nicole spat at her. She continued down the stairs and pushed past Waverly and Champ on her way.

Waverly couldn’t help herself, she had to ask. “What did Shae want?”

“It’s not really any of your business, is it,” Nicole replied, not even bothering to glance over her shoulder. She just continued on her way to the basement. 

“Jeez, what’s her problem?” Champ asked, only half paying attention, given he was much more focused on what he wanted to get done with Waverly.

“Beats me,” Waverly replied, already turning to continue up the stairs, pulling Champ along with her. The guilt and the anger and the shame building in her gut was pushed down beneath her resolve to get Nicole Haught out of her goddamned head.

The resolve held until she was finished with Champ. Then she left him to find the nearest bathroom, where she threw up and rid herself of all the alcohol she’d consumed over the course of the night. The guilt, however, wouldn’t budge.

____________________

_Present day_

“So, uh, how have you been?” Nicole asked, a bit nervously. 

The whole thing seemed comical. They’d basically refused to speak to each other for so long that actually trying to make normal conversation seemed like a joke. The thought made Waverly grin, and Nicole cracked a small smile in return.

“Things aren’t bad. My sister, Wynonna, moved back to town so we’re living together on the family homestead.”

“That sounds nice,” Nicole offered.

They continued to make small talk for a few minutes, Waverly explaining how she was working at Shorty’s and helping with Wynonna’s work. Nicole talked about finishing up at the police academy and taking the job in Purgatory. Neither of them brought up the party and what happened there. It was just nice to talk a bit. And it was so easy to talk to Nicole. They hadn’t really spent much time talking at the party besides when they’d first met, in the kitchen, but it struck Waverly now that when talking to Nicole she’d never really struggled to make conversation.

She took the opportunity to re-familiarize herself with Nicole’s features, taking in her soft eyes, the straight edge of her nose, her gorgeous smile and the way it made adorable dimples crinkle in her cheeks. Nicole talked about her life and Waverly listened and tried not to stare too hard as she committed Nicole’s face to memory. She had a feeling she hadn’t had since the night of the party, a feeling she could only sum up as ‘ _damn’_.

Of course, the moment couldn’t last, as the door to the cafe opened and Champ sauntered in. He spotted his girlfriend easily and came over to the table, wrapping his arms around Waverly’s neck and planting a noisy kiss on her cheek. 

“Hey baby,” he cooed.

Waverly wanted to pull away, but Champ’s arms around her prevented her from moving much at all. She avoided Nicole’s gaze, knowing the other woman couldn’t be thrilled at the sight of the boy clinging to Waverly’s shoulders. When he was done with his bombardment of kisses against Waverly’s cheek, he registered Nicole’s presence and looked over at her.

“Oh, hey, it’s Nicole, right?”

“Officer Haught, actually,” Nicole replied, gritting her teeth. “And I should get going.”

“Wait—“ Waverly cried, reaching a hand towards Nicole before she could stop herself.

Nicole looked at her outstretched hand and scoffed before walking out the door.

“Jeez, what’s her problem?” Champ asked, getting up from his position crouching next to Waverly, choosing to hover over her instead.

Waverly had the sickening feeling that she’d seen all of this before. She’d seen this situation and watched it played out and she knew how it ended. She leaned her head against the table and sighed.

____________________

_3 years earlier_

It was four days after Russell’s party that Waverly heard the news from Chrissy.

“Nicole and Shae got back together,” her best friend’s voice spoke with a metallic crackle over the phone, “I guess they decided to give things another try.”

“Good for them,” Waverly pouted.

“Everything ok, Waverly?”

“Yeah, Chris. Everything’s just fine.”

Waverly had never told Chrissy the full story of the night’s events, so Chrissy had no reason to believe her news was upsetting to her friend. It was, however, for reasons Waverly didn’t want to think about. So what if Nicole got back together with Shae, Waverly wasn’t exactly friends with either of them, so why should it matter to her. 

Oh, she knew why. But she didn’t let herself dwell on those thoughts long at all.

It was two days after that when Waverly took Champ up on his offer of dinner and a movie. They ate at a lousy diner in the Big City and watched a cheesy horror movie, and when Champ put his arm around Waverly, she didn’t push him away. When he made a move to kiss her, she didn’t stop him. And when he came up to the door of her dormitory, she didn’t bother telling him ‘goodnight’. She just walked in with the door open behind her, knowing he’d follow. 

They became an item two weeks later, calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend and doing all the things that came with the titles. For a long while, Chrissy couldn’t wrap her head around it. But Waverly was her best friend, and Champ seemed to make her happy, so she didn’t protest it.

Had she asked, though, Waverly might’ve told her that she didn’t know why she was dating Champ. Champ didn’t make her happy, really, he just provided a distraction and filled a void. But Chrissy didn’t ask, and Waverly never said anything, and she dated Champ for a year and half until she heard, through the grapevine, that Nicole and Shae had broken up. She spent several days wondering if she should reach out, only to talk herself out of it. She and Nicole had kissed at a party, once, over a year ago. They’d been drunk and it hadn’t meant anything. Plus they hadn’t exactly parted on good terms. Waverly had a boyfriend now, the same boy she’d left the party with, and Nicole would know that too. So she squashed the desire to say anything, and she stayed with Champ, and Nicole Haught slowly faded from the forefront of her mind.

She could never really forget her though, something that frustrated Waverly to no end. She might be walking through campus or getting drinks at a bar and she’d see a flash of red hair, her heart launching itself into her throat. But it was never Nicole. Some nights she’d wake up from dreams that left her aching with want and blushing when she remembered why. 

She graduated and moved to Purgatory and stayed with Champ and took the job at Shorty’s. And despite all the changes in her life, the distractions and the tasks that came along with adulthood, there was always some small recess of her mind in which the memory of Nicole would linger. She hated that the memory of one night, and one woman, could be so stubbornly rooted in her being. So she shoved it under the feelings of anger and hurt and rejection that she’d also felt that night, and she hoped it was enough to keep the longing at bay. 

And it was, until it wasn’t. 


	3. Overdue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOY this chapter really got away from me when I was writing it. 
> 
> Two disclaimers/side notes: I made up some demon-y stuff for fun in this chapter to tie in some stuff between Nicole and Wynonna. Also, I liked Shae’s character in the series, even if we were like ‘whaaaat’ when she showed up outta the blue, but I definitely made her kind of a dick in this fic, sorry fam.

____________________

_Present day_

After their meeting at the cafe, Waverly and Nicole returned to the distant, frigid relationship they’d kept the first three weeks of Nicole’s arrival in Purgatory. Only this time it felt even worse. Waverly had had the opportunity to sit down with Nicole, talk to her, maybe even get a chance to clear the air between them, only to watch those possibilities go up in flames.

Dating Champ had never been a ploy to make Nicole feel bad. It wasn’t like Waverly had started dating him to piss her off. She’d just found an unfortunate kind of comfort in his attention, and she’d never let herself stop to wonder about anything else. 

The look on Nicole’s face when she’d seen Champ in the cafe, however, haunted Waverly for weeks after their meeting. It reminded her of the look Nicole had given her all those years ago, when she was leading Champ up the stairs of Russell’s basement and they’d bumped into each other again. Waverly had made her decisions that night based on the assumption that Nicole had rejected her. But she’d been genuinely hurt, that night, to see Waverly with Champ. And Waverly had seen the same hurt reflected in Nicole’s expression at the cafe. What a mess. Just when she thought that they might put the whole situation behind them.

At times Waverly felt the same guilt she’d always felt. Guilty for leaving with Champ, hurting Nicole, and never reaching out. She had obviously liked Nicole. But then she’d remind herself to be angry. Nicole had left her, Nicole had gotten back together with Shae, Nicole hadn’t reached out either. She rode the waves of her emotions this way for another three weeks before taking any action. Her mood was terrible and everyone noticed. Wynonna ribbed her constantly, Champ merely wrote it off as ‘girl problems’, and Shorty went so far as to threaten to take her off the bartending shifts she loved because she was putting some of the customers on edge. 

Anytime she saw Nicole during that time, she wanted to crawl into a cave and hide, or else keep her chin up and scream at the woman. She couldn’t make up her mind. Nicole didn’t have the right to be mad at her for dating Champ. They’d only known each other _one night_. But then, by that reasoning, Waverly shouldn’t hold onto her anger with Nicole for leaving her in the bathroom either, or for getting back together with Shae. Waverly had been a stranger and Shae had been familiar, at the very least. But Waverly couldn’t help it. She was either guilty or angry and it took the whole three weeks before someone finally sat her down and made her work it out.

_

Chrissy came to visit at the end of November. She was working in the Big City, glad to be away from her hometown, but she found time to visit her father and best friend whenever she could. It was on this visit that she confronted Waverly about the situation. They were curled up in the living room of the homestead, watching TV, when Chrissy brought it up.

“So Nicole works in town now, huh?” she mentioned, all too casual for Waverly’s liking. 

“I guess so,” was Waverly’s response.

“For my dad, I heard. He says she’s really good at her job,” Chrissy continued, glancing at Waverly out of the corner of her eye, gauging her reaction. “He also says that he brought her to Shorty’s one time when you were there. You two seemed to know each other but he said it was like the dead of winter when you were together— very unwelcoming vibes.”

Waverly harrumphed and turned away from her friend, electing to stare out the window.

“Waverly, what’s going on?” Chrissy asked, dropping the pretence of innocence. “Somethings up with you and I’m pretty sure it has to do with Nicole. Just talk to me, ok? I know it’s been a while since I’ve been able to visit but I am still here for you.”

Waverly sighed heavily, before turning a fraction of an inch back towards her friend. “Nicole hates me still. From the party.”

“Hates you? Why?”

“Because I left with Champ, remember?”

“Honey, in case you forgot, you hardly told me any details of that night. I ditched you for Kal and I thought you were always a little peeved about that. You never really told me what happened after I left,” Chrissy replied calmly.

“Oh. Right,” Waverly sighed. “Well, I guess I should start at the beginning then.”

Waverly then told Chrissy about meeting Nicole in the kitchen, how easy it’d been to talk to her, her body’s response to being near her, and her slow realization that she was attracted to her. All of it. She detailed the events in the basement after Chrissy had left them, all the way up to her running into Nicole on the staircase.

“Yikes,” Chrissy interrupted. “That can’t have been good.”

“Mhmm, hence the situation going on right now,” Waverly concluded. 

“Seriously Waverly, I can’t believe you never told me all of this.”

“I’m sorry, it just… seemed unimportant after a while. Like a dream. I never thought I’d see her again, and I got with Champ, and, and… I don’t know, life happened I guess.”

“I mean, it’s totally alright, I’m not mad at you,” Chrissy laughed easily, “Just surprised. My best friend has been into women this entire time and I never knew.”

“I’m— I don’t know. It was really…” she hesitated to use the word _‘special’_ but it was all that came to mind. She hated how cheesy it felt, but it was also honest. “It was special with Nicole and I wasn’t sure what that meant, and then Champ happened.”

Chrissy frowned at the mention of Waverly’s boyfriend. “I mean I suppose that explains why you two ended up together but, Waverly, why stay? It’s been three years and you know you could do better. And, I mean, someone better is around,” she added almost as an afterthought.

“You mean Nicole? Are you serious? I hardly know her!” Waverly protested. “You can’t just _assume_ she’s better than Champ because— because— well you can’t,” she finished weakly. 

“Get to know her then,” Chrissy offered. “You don’t even want to be with Champ, it’s pretty obvious. You dread spending time with him, the sex isn’t good, and you’re clearly still attracted to Nicole—“

“I am not—!”

“Lie to someone else. Or continue lying to yourself, hun. But regardless, why not just end things with Champ and start fresh with Nicole?”

“I’m not sure, Chrissy. I can’t run on the assumption that breaking up with Champ will make Nicole suddenly like me. I think I actually really hurt her. And we barely got to know each other that night so it wasn’t exactly a great first impression.”

“Wrong,” Chrissy cut in. “She got a great first impression, or else she wouldn’t have kissed you in the first place. Quit making excuses, Earp.”

Waverly sighed again and tried to reason against what Chrissy was saying. It just wouldn’t work that way. But what if she did break up with Champ, and she could try to rebuild things with Nicole. Wouldn’t it be nice to find out?

“All of this because of a stupid kiss three years ago,” Waverly mumbled

“Can’t have been that stupid if you’re still dwelling on it now,” Chrissy remarked.

Waverly grumbled some nonsense complaint and turned back to the TV. She hated when Chrissy was right. 

_

Breaking up with Champ happened a week or so later.

The first days of December had brought winter, and winter had brought ice and wind and snow to the small town of Purgatory. Anytime the sun wasn’t up, and even sometimes when it was, the wind would bite and the air would be frigid and people walked around with their faces buried in their coat collars. When the sun was out and the weather was nice, however, it was like something out of a children’s Christmas book. A winter wonderland of frost-tipped trees, icicles balancing on roofs, and untouched snow glistening in front yards. Waverly enjoyed those days, when everything seemed more peaceful simply by virtue of being covered in snow.

The break up happened on such a day. Waverly had given plenty of thought to her conversation with Chrissy, and conversations with Wynonna too, and she’d decided that they were right. Champ had been good, sort of, for the past three years. But he was no longer what she wanted or needed. 

He had come to the homestead expecting to spend the day with Waverly but he left a short ten minutes later. She hadn’t seen the need to draw out the process, she simply told him that they were through and that was that. He obviously wasn’t pleased, and she took a moment to feel sorry for him, but after he was gone she felt like she could actually breathe properly again. Who knew.

_

Wynonna threw her an impromptu celebratory dinner that night. She let out a victorious cheer when Waverly told her the news, and she insisted upon ordering from Waverly’s favourite take-out place for dinner, even if she hated most of the menu, extra-healthy as it was. 

“Congratulations, baby girl. Damn, I’m proud of you,” Wynonna teased her, clasping her on the shoulder, bottle of whiskey in the other hand. “This is a momentous occasion on par with your graduation from BCU.”

“Really,” Waverly rolled her eyes. “You know, Wynonna, maybe now you should take some thought to your own situation between Dolls and Doc, instead of butting into my problems.”

Wynonna shot a glare in her direction before taking a pull of the whiskey.

“Please, Waverly, I’ve got it all under control. They’re both just so…”

“Broody? Oh, melancholy! No, wait—“

“That’s enough of that,” Wynonna interjected. “I don’t like this game. Besides, we can’t do this right now, Doc is on his way over.”

“Does Dolls know that Doc is on his way over?” 

“No, that really wouldn’t—“

“Because he just pulled up outside.”

Wynonna groaned. “No, no, no. No. Shit. Balls.”

“Looks like we’re dealing with your situation after all,” Waverly teased her.

Dinner was awkward, to say the least, but Waverly’s mood never soured.

_

A week went by before she saw Nicole again, a wonderful week without Champ. He hadn’t made her miserable, per se, but she felt like she was seeing the beauty in small things in ways she hadn’t while they’d been together. Silly things, like the mesmerizing way that cream poured into her coffee, or the shining reflection of the sun off of the frozen pond at the homestead. 

It wasn’t that Champ had been a villain, really, just that he hadn’t been right. Waverly often found herself sighing contentedly and staring off at nothing. She hadn’t realized the amount of weight on her shoulders until it was lifted.

Of course, other things still existed that gnawed at her. Wynonna’s persistent refusal to let Waverly join the team was irritating beyond belief. Her sister’s latest argument was that since Waverly was no longer dating Champ, she was a free bird, and she should be using that freedom to the fullest, not slaving away working for the lawman.

It was a shit excuse and they both knew it.

Not only that, but Waverly’s newfound freedom came with the cost of new feelings towards Nicole tugging at her insides. Before she’d felt guilty, angry, and sad, and resolved to let none of those feelings come to light, given that she’d been in a relationship with someone else. Now, however, it was all too easy for those feelings, and others, to claw away at her.

She still felt guilty. In a way, she was almost guiltier because she could see now how Champ hadn’t been the right choice. She felt guilty for not seeing it then, for using that decision to hurt Nicole, and really, to hurt herself, for years.

She couldn’t be angry anymore. She’d been angry in order to stomach the guilt, and she’d been angry, really, because she was unhappy. But it wasn’t Nicole’s fault that she’d wound up with Champ. Of course, coming to terms with that really just shifted her emotions from anger back to guilt, again.

She found she wasn’t really sad anymore. She’d been upset with how things had gone, and about how neither she nor Nicole had ever reached out after the party. But breaking up with Champ had given her a sort of clarity regarding the whole situation. They hadn’t reached out because Nicole had gotten back together with Shae, and Waverly had been with Champ. And that was okay. It was probably for the best, really. It let the two of them figure out things in their own time, instead of running the risk of reaching out and finding that they still felt the same way, and hurting the people they were dating. 

Of course, that was based on the assumption that Nicole _could_ feel the same way, and didn’t absolutely hate Waverly’s guts. And that was where the new feelings came into play.

About a week after the breakup, Waverly saw Nicole at the station. It wasn’t the first time they’d crossed paths since the cafe, but it was the first time since things ended with Champ. Honestly, Waverly hadn’t thought that it would’ve made much of a difference. 

But boy, did it ever.

She was bringing coffees to Wynonna and Dolls, reminiscent of the day, almost two months ago now, when she’d first seen Nicole in town. Only this time, Nicole was not facing away from her. She was walking down the hallway towards her.

Waverly’s new emotions kicked in right about then.

She had always known Nicole was attractive, and that she was attracted to her. But the difference that came with actually letting herself feel her feelings was almost alarming.

Nicole’s hair was cut short now. Waverly wasn’t sure when she’d had it done. It fell in loose waves to just around her chin, still red as ever. It framed her face in this new way that had Waverly struggling to breathe right as she caught sight of the woman at the end of the hall. She was wearing a uniform that Waverly hadn’t seen before. Somewhere in the back of her mind she registered that Nedley must’ve have finally cracked under the pressure of one too many deputies complaining about the old ones. The new uniform was very flattering. At least, that’s what Waverly would tell Wynonna when she undoubtedly asked later: flattering yet functional. A tight blue button-up and, blessedly, form-fitting, professional pants that hugged in all the right places. That being said, Waverly’s first response was more along the lines of: _Haught, hot damn._

She felt like a cartoon character, the way her tongue was suddenly glued to the roof of her mouth, how she thought her eyes might pop right out of her head. If only they’d be shaped like hearts as they did so, then the image would’ve been complete. Her heart was pounding and she thought her hands might’ve been getting a little sweaty, which indicated nervousness, and yet all she wanted to do was smile. She thought that seeing Nicole was like seeing the sunrise after a storm, and while she hated the cliche, she loved the view.

Of course, letting herself feel the exciting (any maybe a little nauseating) feelings she was having didn’t mean they were going to be reciprocated. Sure enough, Nicole was still a block of ice as she made her way towards Waverly. Her demeanour clearly suggested that she’d seen her, despite the fact that she was obviously looking anywhere else.

Waverly was trying to manage the lump in her throat, the erratic pounding of her heart, and the desperate urge to just _say something_ , all while balancing her coffees, when someone called Nicole’s name from down the hall. The voice made Nicole jump a little in surprise, and her first instinct was to look at Waverly. They caught each other’s gaze and for a blissful second Waverly could forget that Nicole didn’t like her. Of course, Nicole then realized it hadn’t been Waverly, and stopped to turn around and find the actual person calling for her.

To Waverly’s surprise, Wynonna was the one who came jogging around the corner at the end of the hall, holding up a hand and waving at the deputy, before she doubled over, hands on her knees.

“Wow, I really should listen to Dolls about doing that cardio,” she panted, before looking up in panic “—but don’t repeat that!”

It was then that Wynonna registered that Waverly was also in the hallway, holding coffees, looking pissed.

“Oh, hey baby girl.”

“What’s going on, Wynonna? What do you need me for?” Nicole asked, a little impatiently.

“I’m sorry, Wynonna _needs you_ for something?”

Nicole turned back to Waverly, who’s grip was tightening around the cardboard cups. She didn’t understand what was happening but it seemed clear that since Wynonna and Nicole were on a first name basis, this wasn’t their first meeting. Which would mean that they had already met at least once, which was something that Wynonna had neglected to mention.

Nicole seemed to drop her frosty attitude once she realized that Waverly was actually upset about something. Her glare softened and, not wanting to get involved, the deputy turned to look expectantly at Wynonna.

“Guys—” Wynonna rasped, still breathing a little heavily. She was now leaning one arm against the wall. “—it’s, uh, all good.”

Waverly gritted her teeth and found the resolve to stalk past Nicole towards her sister. It was amazing what she could accomplish when she was pissed.

“What’s going on here?” she demanded once she was next to Wynonna, her voice dangerously low.

“Waves, it’s fine. It’s nothing. I just wanted the deputy to—“

“Nicole, you mean, since you’re clearly friendly with each other.”

Under her breath Nicole muttered, “I mean, I’d really say more like ‘acquaintances’,” but both Earps ignored her.

“Shit,” Wynonna sighed. “Why do I have to be so friendly all the time, it just gets me into trouble.”

Under difference circumstances, Waverly would’ve laughed. Nicole spoke up again.

“I’m assuming you need something for the ‘Biletsky’ case,” she offered.

Wynonna let out another heavy sigh paired with another utterance of “shit” as Waverly turned to look at Nicole, and then back to her sister, before she broke.

“Unbelievable! Wynonna, are you serious?”

Wynonna wouldn’t look at her, and it was all the confirmation she needed.

“I can’t believe this! After everything I do for you and Dolls, literally like, _all the time_ , and then you go and do this behind my back!” She was shouting now.

“I’m sorry, but I’m lost here,” Nicole interrupted. “What’s the problem?”

“The problem—“ Waverly spun around, her anger making her completely forget about her earliernervousness in Nicole’s presence, “—is that my sister has refused for _months_ to let me help her, even though she _knows_ that I could, and now I find out that she’s been working with you, for who knows how long! Maybe even since you got here! Which, aside from being really unfair, is also _not cool—“_ Waverly emphasized the two words, turning to give Wynonna a very pointed look, “—since she _knows_ how I feel about you—“

Nicole raised an eyebrow. “How you feel about me?”

Waverly either didn’t hear her or chose to ignore the question, given that her irritation with her sister was a much bigger deal at that moment.

“—Not to mention that I am only finding out about this _now_ , which means despite everything that’s been… discussed… recently, she didn’t think that something like this might be important to tell me!”

“Waverly, it’s not like that—” Wynonna started.

“Everything that’s been _discussed_?” Nicole wondered out loud, fully aware that neither Earp was really paying attention to her. 

“Really, Wynonna? Cause it seems like you need Officer Haught’s—“ use of her last name caught Nicole’s attention “—help with something on the ‘Biletsky’ case, was it? What’s that about? A demon doctor? Demon barber? Demon woodsman?” Waverly paused for a moment before she added, “Please tell me it’s not vampires.”

“Ok, what the hell is going on here!” Nicole asked forcefully. 

“She doesn’t know about the _stuff_ , Waverly,” Wynonna explained. “You know, the _demon stuff.”_

Waverly did a double take. “Huh?”

“Demons?” Nicole asked from behind her.

Wynonna groaned loudly. “Honestly, you two, learn to freakin’ communicate.”

“Oh, no no,” Waverly chided her. “You can’t put this on me, Wynonna. Why didn’t you tell me that you were working with Nicole?”

“Because I figured you were going to react, I don’t know, exactly like this, maybe.”

Waverly opened her mouth to argue but unfortunately found that Wynonna was probably right, so she stopped herself.

Nicole coughed loudly, forcing both Earp sisters to turn and look in her direction. “Could someone please enlighten me on this whole demon thing, please, because I always thought I was imagining things when I drove past the Miller house and had the sudden urge to sing Sinatra, but now I feel like maybe there’s some other explanation.”

“The case involving the Miller house has been closed for 6 years—”

It was Dolls who spoke, startling the three women in the hallway as he rounded the corner, silent as a ghost. 

“—The fact that you feel something when you drive by it is likely a remnant of the supernatural presence that once dwelled there, although if it is a consistent feeling you have, it may be worth it to investigate the house again. See if anything has changed.”

He had his arms folded across his chest and he looked, well, like Dolls did most days. His poker face was quite impressive, although the look in his eyes as he surveyed the three of them easily gave him away as being displeased.

“You three cause quite the commotion when you want to,” he spoke, sharply. “Earp—“ both sisters met his gaze and he rolled his eyes. “The Earp that works for me.” Waverly scowled.

“Yes, boss?” Wynonna replied, aiming for playful but sort of floundering under Dolls’ intense stare.

“You are going to escort Officer Haught back to the office, where we are going to have a regrettable, yet now _necessary_ chat about the supernatural events in the Ghost River Triangle, and the type of work that we do. Officer Haught, you will please come with us.”

“What about me?” Waverly asked. Dolls just shrugged and muttered “It’s nothing you don’t already know,” before turning to head for the office. 

“I’ll meet you at home, Waves,” Wynonna told her, grabbing the now-cold coffees before waving Nicole towards her awkwardly and walking in the direction that Dolls had gone.

“Un-freaking-believable,” Waverly muttered before stalking off down the hall.

She was so annoyed that she had completely forgotten about her situation with Nicole. It wasn’t until she heard Nicole quietly speaking to Wynonna, somewhere behind her, that it all came flooding back.

“Wynonna, what did Waverly mean when she said how she ‘feels about me’?”

“Nuhuh, Haught-stuff. You’d have to be crazy to think that after that display, I’m going to risk pissing off my baby sis again in the same 24 hours.”

Waverly felt the corners of her mouth tug into a small smile. She was still angry with her sister, but she was glad that despite their work relationship, Wynonna hadn’t yet spilled the beans to Nicole about Waverly’s feelings, and she wasn’t going to do so anytime soon either, by the sounds of it. 

It wasn’t until Waverly got to the Jeep that she finally figured out the other reason why she was in a better mood, despite the mishap in the station. When she’d whispered to Wynonna, Nicole’s voice had sounded different in a way that Waverly hadn’t been able to figure out until that moment.

She’d sounded hopeful.

_

Wynonna owed Waverly one hell of an explanation, so explain she did when she finally got home later that day.

“The case started as an investigation into an attempted robbery,” she began, “which is why Nicole was involved. I didn’t _ask_ for her to work with us, Waves. Anyways. Police were called to the Biletsky farm a couple weeks ago after someone there reported that a burglar had broken into the house. When the cops got there, they found the guy barely alive. It looked like he’d been mauled by a bear. Nicole ended up taking over the questioning process with the Biletsky family while Dolls and I were given the lead on the robber and his wounds. Listen, they found scales in some of the cuts when he was at the hospital.”

“Like, from a lizard?”

“Yeah, exactly. They weren’t exactly small, either.” Wynonna continued. “Once questioning of the Biletsky family was done, we took over the case because, well, there definitely aren’t any native species of reptile in our neck of the woods that would be capable of mauling somebody like that. So Dolls figured it had to be something out of the ordinary.”

Waverly took a moment to let the story sink in. “You still should’ve told me about working with Nicole,” she pouted after a few moments.

“Yeah, maybe, but it would’ve just driven you crazy don't you think? To know I was gonna be working with her, meanwhile you aren’t even capable of saying five words to the woman—“

“Hey! Uncalled for, Wynonna!”

Wynonna just shrugged with the confidence of a woman who knew she was right, before announcing that she was spending the night with Doc and began to get ready to head out the door. As she reached for the handle, leather jacket on and keys in the other hand, Wynonna turned to look at her sister, a look of feigned thoughtfulness on her face. 

“You know…,” she drawled, “after you left, Nicole made a very pointed comment about how she gets coffee at the same time every morning from that little cafe in town. I think she said 9:30. She mentioned that she’d bumped into you there once before. Sounded like she was hoping to bump into you again.”

“Wynonna, stop it, that’s not funny.”

“I’m serious, Waverly. She’s only all cold when you’re around because you both assume that you don’t like each other. Just go to the cafe and talk to her,” Wynonna pleaded. “For all of our sakes.”

Waverly rolled her eyes at her sister, but once she was out the door, she smiled and began to plan her outfit for her trip to the cafe the next morning. For coffee, nothing else. She told herself that lie a few more times before she gave up altogether, and let herself feel giddy about the possibility of seeing Nicole in the morning.

_

It was 9:07 when Waverly arrived at the cafe. She knew she was ridiculously early, but she’d been too excited to wait at the homestead any longer. Not too mention that she didn’t want to risk missing Nicole by even a few seconds. She ordered a drink and settled herself at a table near a window. Then she wondered if maybe that was creepy, since it might seem like she was trying too hard to be noticed, especially since she had a full view of anyone approaching the cafe. She debated moving to a different table, somewhere near the back maybe, but then she was worried that sitting there might make her too hard to spot. She wanted Nicole to notice her, but she didn’t want to seem too eager.

It was a futile exercise, she had to admit, after about the third time that she considered moving tables. She was still sitting by the window, analyzing all of her options, but not really liking any of them enough to move. And a part of her did want to be able to see Nicole as she came by. Again, she tried not to feel creepy about it. It wasn’t exactly like they’d set up an actual date. Or meeting, not that it _had_ to be a date. Waverly frowned at her own thoughts. The caffeine was not helping with the excitement, she concluded.

It should’ve been hard to miss the sight of the Purgatory Police Department patrol car pulling into the parking spot right outside of the cafe’s front door and yet, somehow, Waverly did miss it. She was scowling down at her phone as she read through a conversation with Chrissy in which her friend was giving her advice on how to approach the situation with Nicole. The advice was a lot of serious “tell her how you feel”, “apologize for the party” type moments, with sprinklings of the tongue emoji, the peach emoji, and the dark moon emoji with the unnerving little smirk. That would’ve made Waverly laugh had she not been so flustered at the thought of having an actual, real conversation with Nicole without the added risk of Champ barging in.

Since she hadn’t seen Nicole pulling up, Waverly’s window seat became useless as a means of warning her when the deputy was going to arrive. Waverly was still glaring at her phone when movement from across the table caught her eye. 

“I’d hate to be whoever is on the receiving end of those texts,” Nicole commented.

Waverly’s mouth fell open in shock. She’d come early, she’d sat by the window, and still Nicole had taken her by surprise. Her brain wasn’t keeping up with her mouth as she tried to remember what Nicole had just said.

“Uh,” was her genius response. 

“You’re staring daggers at your phone,” Nicole explained, still standing across the table.

“Oh… Oh!” Waverly stammered, and hastily shoved her phone in the pocket of her puffy winter coat. “Sorry!”

“No need to apologize,” Nicole smiled. Waverly wondered at how she could be so cold some days and so nice to her on others.

“Would you like to join me?” Waverly asked, and her voice was suddenly noticeably higher pitched than usual. She blushed.

“I haven’t ordered yet,” Nicole chuckled a little, “but I’ll come back and sit when I have.”

She turned away before Waverly could respond, which was probably for the best given her shallow breathing and general feeling of being tongue-tied. 

She watched idly as Nicole approached the counter and ordered her drink, eyeing the way she wore her uniform with pride. Even the heavy PPD jacket she was wearing fit her like it was meant to be there. Waverly couldn’t deny that Nicole was born to be a police officer. 

That thought gave her pause. She hardly knew the woman, she couldn’t make such assumptions. And yet, something in her core told her that it was true. Nicole loved her job, and Waverly loved that she could tell that about the woman with just a look.

A few minutes passed before Nicole returned to the table. Waverly had been rehearsing possible conversation starters in her mind but nothing seemed to feel right. What was a good way to start a conversation about how much she liked Nicole, felt bad about the party, had broken up with Champ, wanted her and Nicole to be friends, maybe wanted them to be more than friends, also was still a little pissed about Nicole working with Wynonna on the case, but overall didn’t come off too strong? She knew she was overthinking it, but she couldn’t help it. This meeting with Nicole was really, really important. It was another chance. 

None of her mental preparations mattered, however, since once Nicole was seated across from her, she took the opportunity to speak up first.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that working with Wynonna on that case was going to be an issue.”

The abrupt conversation startled Waverly a bit, but she recovered quickly enough.

“You don’t need to apologize, Nicole. It’s part of your job, and Wynonna’s job. I just saw red for a second. There’s been a lot of tension between Wynonna and I about her work so it just caught me by surprise, I guess.”

“I mean,” Nicole gave a timid sort of smirk, “You are technically just a civilian so it wouldn’t really be appropriate for you to—“

“Hey!” Waverly cried, reaching across the table to smack Nicole lightly on the arm. “That’s rude. ‘ _Just_ a civilian’.”

“I’m only teasing you, Waverly. I don’t think it’d be possible for you to be _just_ anything.”

Waverly felt her heart flutter at Nicole’s words, and she had to try very hard to stop herself from grinning like an idiot. This was too easy. She hadn’t even said all the things she needed to say and yet she could already fell herself being swept up in the excitement of liking Nicole, of Nicole smiling at her and saying sweet things and, well, she had to stop herself from letting those thoughts go any further. When had her feelings gotten so out of hand?

“Anyways,” Nicole was saying, pulling Waverly out of her thoughts, “That case has had all of us stumped for a while now. Even knowing there are demons, and other things of that sort running around, it still doesn’t help me to piece it all together.”

Nicole paused, furrowing her brow a little. Waverly found it adorable.

“Scales from a reptile, but the robber said the only thing he remembers is being attacked by a bear. Some sort of weird mix of the two, then?” Nicole asked, more out loud than in actual hope of a response from Waverly.

“You know,” Waverly interjected. “I do have a degree in Ancient Cultures and Languages.”

“I actually do remember that,” Nicole smiled, looking up at her, “You told me so the night that we met.”

Waverly blushed even more at the mention of the party. She thought about taking the opportunity to delve into that topic a little further, maybe work her way towards a long overdue apology, but something from Nicole’s mention of the case tugged at her. 

“You said a reptile and a bear?” Waverly asked, frowning a little.

“Yeah. The Biletsky family wasn’t much help, unfortunately. They don’t have any pets, and the owner of the farm couldn’t answer many of our questions. He’s Ukrainian and there was sort of a language barrier, even with his granddaughter translating.”

“Ukrainian…” Waverly muttered, lost in thought.

There was something there, a missing piece that she knew she could find if she could just remember more from her Indo-European Mythologies class. She’d hated the professor, he’d spoken monotonously and somehow made what should’ve been really interesting material become a total bore, which was probably why Waverly was having such a difficult time remembering the details of the class.

“Waverly? I feel like I’ve lost you,” Nicole was teasing her. 

“I could help, Nicole. I know it,” Waverly growled in frustration. “If Wynonna would just let me help her.”

“Well…,” Nicole hesitated, “I _could_ show you some photos from the scene. Which would be extremely not ok and you could never mention it to anyone ever, but I’ve got a good feeling about you, Earp.” 

Nicole heard the compliment a moment after she’d said it, and she blushed a little, looking down at her coffee. Waverly felt herself smile wide.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that, that seems highly unprofessional and very unlike you,” Waverly replied.

“You didn’t ask, I’m offering. Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done something risky around you.”

Waverly suppressed the urge to let out an honest-to-god squeak. Was Nicole flirting with her? It was a pretty direct reference to the night of the party. She just nodded, a little stiffly given her body’s flustered response, and Nicole motioned for Waverly to pull her chair up next to her on the other side of the table.

“Ok, so, this is a photo from the field where the attack took place…”

Nicole showed Waverly a handful of the pictures on her phone, taken in various locations at the Biletsky farm. It was the photo of the family’s living room that gave Waverly pause.

“Can you zoom in on the fireplace?”

Nicole obeyed the request, and Waverly peered at the shelf above the hearth.

“Of course,” she breathed to herself, forgetting for a moment that Nicole was seated next to her.

“You figured something out?”

“I think so, yeah,” Waverly told her proudly.

“Show me,” Nicole replied, leaning in to Waverly. Waverly felt a warmth in her chest as she felt Nicole’s side press into her, the woman’s shoulder layering behind Waverly’s own as she strived to get a better view of the picture. She had to wrap and arm over the back of Waverly’s char to stay balanced, and the gesture somehow felt incredibly intimate to Waverly, despite that they were in the cafe, looking at photos from a crime scene. Oh yeah, and she still wasn’t sure where she stood with Nicole. Waverly took a quick, deep breath to try to calm her racing heart. She would get back to her feelings about Nicole later. She was about to crack a case. 

“On that shelf there’s a little idol, I think it’s homemade. But it looks a little bit like the Zbruch Idol that’s on display in Poland—“

“—But they’re Ukrainian—”

“I’m getting there,” Waverly assured her, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “The idol isassociated with Slavic beliefs, pre-Christianity. It’s thought to represent three worlds, the top is heaven—“ she pointed at the barely discernible, rounded tip of the sculpture, “—the middle is the world is us, the mortal world, and the bottom represents the underworld—“ she pointed at the bottom of the figurine where some faintly carved lines served to separate that last two segments. It was hard to get a good look at it on the zoomed in picture on the phone, but Waverly was pretty confident she was right.

“And that relates to the bear-snake how?” Nicole asked politely.

“Bear-dragon, actually,” Waverly told her, trying not to sound smug. She was just incredibly proud that she’d figured it out.

“Bear…dragon?” 

“Its Veles,” Waverly explained. “Slavic mythology refers to Veles as the patron god of earth, forests, and water, but also of the underworld. He’s sometimes depicted as a dragon with the head of a bear. The idol doesn’t _really_ prove anything, but seeing it jogged my memory. The Biletsky family is Ukrainian you said, so it would fit that they have this sort of totem in their home.”

“Right, but Waverly, you can’t be suggesting that a _god_ is what mauled that guy.”

Waverly shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I’m just a civilian, after all,” she teased, and Nicole let out an embarrassed huff. “Regardless, you should probably let Wynonna and Dolls know to do some research on Veles, and Slavic mythology in general. If there isn’t an actual god running around the Ghost River Triangle then something is impersonating one.”

“Waverly, that was incredible,” Nicole was smiling at her. “You basically gave us a lead. We haven’t had any new leads since the beginning of the case!”

Waverly blushed at the praise. “That’s all I’ve been trying to do for Wynonna. Help out.”

Nicole beamed at her, still pressed to her side. “I will definitely put in a good word for you when I see her and Dolls next.”

Waverly turned and found herself gazing at Nicole in a bit of a daze. She was just so nice, she’d shown Waverly those pictures even though it might’ve gotten her into trouble, and she was willing to tell Wynonna how much help she’d been. Not to mention her offhanded compliments. Waverly found her eyes tracking to Nicole’s lips. She couldn’t believe that she hadn’t really noticed how close they were, sandwiched together as they’d hunched over the phone.

The sudden proximity, mixed with the happiness at cracking the case, overpowered Waverly’s sense of boundaries, and she tentatively placed a hand over one of Nicole’s, resting on the table. Nicole met Waverly’s gaze with a look of confusion, and, reading the look in Waverly’s eyes, she pulled back.

“What are you—“ Nicole started, before Waverly cut her off.

“I broke up with Champ.”

Nicole raised her eyebrows in surprise. They stayed like that for a moment before coming down into a frown, and Nicole suddenly put her phone back into her officer’s jacket and made to leave.

“I should really get going,” she told her, abruptly. “We’ve been sitting here close to 20 minutes, and I do have an actual job to get to.”

Nicole’s voice had lost its sweetness, and the sudden shift in her attitude gave Waverly some serious emotional whiplash. 

“Nicole, what’s—“ she tried, but she found herself stammering over her own words. “Did I do something?”

“I’m not interested in being a straight girl’s rebound, Waverly,” Nicole shot at her. “You just dumped your boyfriend? Congratulations. But don’t turn around and immediately come to me, expecting… I don’t know. Just because we… one time… well, it doesn’t mean I’m just going to be available for you to, _you know_ , whenever you feel like it.”

Waverly couldn’t tell if she was more shocked or angry at the words coming out of Nicole’s mouth. A part of her even wanted to laugh, just at the silliness of it all. She was having a hard time understanding how their meeting had devolved so fast.

“You can’t be serious,” she argued, and given all the emotions running through her, she found herself beginning to laugh a little after all. “Nicole, I would never— that’s not—“ she struggled to get the words out right, to make Nicole see that that wasn’t her intention at all. It wasn’t working.

“Look, Waverly, I’ll still tell Wynonna how much help you’ve been but—“ she frowned, a little uncertain with what she wanted to say, “—I have to go,” was all she came up with before she hastily stood up and all but bolted for the cafe door.

Waverly sat there in a stunned silence for several minutes before she managed to wrap her head around what had just happened. She really hadn’t expected that sort of response from Nicole, granted Waverly recognized that her actions might’ve warranted a bit of surprise. She herself was surprised at how close she’d been to kissing Nicole. She hadn’t realized she’d wanted to until that very moment. But it was clear that somehow Nicole had this idea that Waverly was only using her. Waverly groaned, understanding that that had probably come from the way she’d treated Nicole at the party. She’d done more damage than she’d thought.

But Waverly was also done with feeling sorry for herself about that night, feeling guilty and always worried about what she’d done. She decided, then and there, that she was done denying her feelings, and done denying herself the things that she wanted. She wanted Nicole, and not as a rebound or some sort of meaningless, drunken hookup at a frat party. Waverly just had to figure out how to show her that.

____________________

_3 years earlier_

Nicole hurried out of the basement bathroom, pressing her phone to her ear.

“Shae, hi.” Her voice was breathy from kissing Waverly, her heart still pounding from the thrill of it all. 

_Waverly Earp._ Even just thinking about the girl’s name made a sign come to Nicoles’ lips.

The music in Russell’s basement was still pounding, and she jogged awkwardly to the staircase so that she’d be able to better hear Shae. She couldn’t imagine what she wanted at this hour, so soon after breaking up, but Nicole didn’t think the phone call could’ve come at a worse time. She took the stairs two at a time as she went up to the main floor.

“Nicole,” came Shae’s flat reply over the phone. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Um, excuse me?” 

“I know about the Earp girl. I know I dumped you, so you’re free to move on however you please, except don’t you think that maybe at the _same party_ as where you were dumped, with _Waverly Earp,_ might've been a stupid decision.”

Nicole’s jaw dropped as she listened to what She was saying. She felt her blood boil at the mention of Waverly. What business of Shae’s was it who Nicole was with. 

“How did you know about Waverly?” she asked, her voice dangerously low.

“Oh please, Nicole. I have friends at the party.”

Nicole supposed that she should’ve guessed as much. One of Shae’s field hockey teammates must’ve seen her with Waverly.

The party was still in full swing inside the house, so Nicole went out to the backyard in the hopes of finding a quieter place to talk. Not that she wanted to talk much at all. She felt incredibly awful about leaving Waverly in the bathroom. She resolved to make the conversation with Shae a quick one before heading back downstairs. She wasn’t sure why she was even bothering to listen at all, but tipsy as she was, it was hard to make herself hang up on her ex. She hadn’t exactly gotten any closure from the way the breakup had gone earlier in the night. 

“Where are you right now?” Nicole asked.

“Out.”

“Cool.”

“Listen, Nicole, I’m just trying to stop you from making a mistake, that’s all. I am sorry about the way things ended earlier, but hooking up with Waverly Earp really isn’t the best idea.”

“How would you know what’s good for me?” Nicole growled over the phone.

“Really, Nicole? You want to end up as a straight girl’s experiment?”

“That’s not—“ she tried, but Shae cut her off.

“Because that’s what you’ll be to her, I can practically guarantee it. A meaningless hookup that she’ll forget about tomorrow. All the boys are into Waverly. She has her pick of the litter, really. You should stick to the real gay ones, like me.”

“I’m sorry, are you saying I should get back together with you?” Nicole asked incredulously. 

“I’m saying that you should be careful who you decide to rebound with. I know you, Nicole, even if we’re no longer dating. I know you fall fast and hard for a pretty girl who gives you attention, regardless of whether she’s gay or not.”

“You know, Shae, I knew you could be rude, but I didn’t realize you could be so fucking malicious. Don’t call me again.”

With that, Nicole hung up and shoved her phone into the back pocket of her jeans. She stood outside a while longer to let the anger of the conversation fade from her mind. Eventually, after she felt like she’d calmed down enough, she checked her phone.

“Shit,” she swore under her breath. It was past 2 in the morning, and she’d been gone from Waverly for over half an hour. “Shit, shit, shit.”

Nicole made her way back into the house and was just heading back down the basement stairs when she saw them: Waverly and Champ Hardy. Waverly’s lips were swollen, her chest flushed, and she was holding onto Champ’s hand as they made their way up the stairs. Nicole thought she might throw up.

_You want to end up as a straight girl’s experiment?_

She heard herself say Waverly’s name, registered that they were speaking to each other, but she didn’t really take any of it in. The taste of bile in her mouth turned into venom when she spoke, and she directed it all at Waverly. Nicole wondered how she could have been so stupid. She hated that Shae had been right.

She pushed past Waverly, and, when the girl called down to her to ask about Shae, Nicole didn’t bother to turn around as she shot back a reply. When she reached the basement once more, she immediately made for the table of liquor without pausing to think. She didn’t want to think. 

At first, Nicole reached for the bottle of whiskey, but Waverly had tasted like that whiskey. Nicole wanted nothing more than to get her as far from her mind as possible, so she reached for a nearby bottle of tequila instead, and with every sip she forced herself to hate the name ‘Waverly Earp’.

Nicole was never proud of getting back together with Shae. Her ex-girlfriend had reached out the day after the party, and as much as Nicole wanted to hate her too, hating just wasn’t in her nature. There was some kind of irony in it, she knew, that she was determined to hate Waverly and found herself forgiving Shae as a result. Some part of her knew that Shae was the one she should be more upset with, for the way she had treated Nicole that night. She wondered, once or twice, if she was punishing herself for liking Waverly. Her friends told her that she was crazy for getting back together with Shae after what had happened, but for some reason it just seemed like the thing to do. She hoped it would take her mind off of Waverly Earp, at least.

Shae’s explanation for the breakup was lacking, to put it politely. She wrote off her behaviour as a mixture of the stresses of university life combined with drama at home that had caused her to lash out. Nicole didn’t really want to buy it, but she found herself accepting Shae’s apologies and calling her her ‘girlfriend’ once more. Doing these things was easier than facing her feelings about Waverly. Nicole had thought that after a few days, the Earp girl would slip from her mind like any other drunken mistake. She didn’t, though, and Nicole was haunted by her on more nights than she cared to admit, both in bad dreams and wickedly good ones. 

It wasn’t long until she heard the news that Waverly and Champ were dating. She heard it from Shae, of course, who mentioned it off-handedly but, knowing Shae, Nicole supposed she was doing a victory dance inside her mind. Shae thrived on being right. 

For months, Waverly was a persistent tug at the back of her mind. Eventually, the memory of her would fade a little, but one dream would bring it all back. Nicole dealt with it the only way she figured she could. Each time Waverly popped back into her mind, she forced herself to relive that moment at the party, and she’d remind herself of what Shae had asked her.

_You want to end up as a straight girl’s experiment?_

It probably wasn’t healthy, she knew, but it worked well enough. She knew it wasn’t a fair way to think about Waverly, or any woman for that matter, but her emotional response wasn’t exactly grounded in reason, so she did whatever worked best. Eventually, the thought of Waverly didn’t hurt as much. Then she recognized that she wanted better and broke things off with Shae. She graduated from the academy and took a job in Purgatory and didn’t really stop to think about why the name of the town was so familiar. 

Of course, she ended up learning rather quickly why the town’s name had tugged at her. She heard the Earp name before she met any of them, but even that was enough to bring old memories to the surface. And when she saw Waverly at Shorty’s, she struggled to reconcile the bitterness in her mind with the sudden, excited pounding of her heart, so she dealt with it the only way she knew how. It was the same way she dealt with the sting of seeing Champ Hardy drape himself over Waverly at the cafe. 

And when Waverly told her that she’d broken up with Champ, the same twisted reasoning came into Nicole’s mind, and so she had pushed Waverly away and left. She wanted to resolve the conflict between her heart and her fears, all the while haunted by the same thought she’d used to deal with her feelings towards Waverly for those first months after the party.

_You want to end up as a straight girl’s experiment?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to try to explain why Nicole has been acting the way that she has, and this was the result. I hope it was okay, I promise good things are coming.


	4. I really think you should

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things:
> 
> 1\. This chapter got hella long, like almost 11k, so I hope you're all ok with a long read. It didn't feel like there was a natural break in there and I also didn't want to rush it.  
> 2\. I took some liberties with Wynonna this chapter. She's still protective af of Waverly but she also definitely ships Wayhaught so she's all for them finally sorting their shit out and finally doing the dirty.  
> 3\. If smut aint your thing, skip the end of the chapter. You'll know when, I feel.

______________________

_Present day_

After Nicole’s display at the cafe, Waverly supposed it could be a sign that she should give up trying to befriend the woman and move on.She had the fleeting thought that maybe they just weren’t compatible. It really had only been one kiss, one night, three years ago, after all. Waverly supposed that maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.

She let each of these thoughts come and go, not really bothering to give any of them real attention. It didn’t matter to her what errant ideas her mind had about the situation, she was determined to give it another try. She was certain that if she could just get Nicole alone, explain everything to her, and definitely apologize about the party, that then everything else might fall into place and they could really start again. She just had to figure out step one: get Nicole alone.

It was Wynonna who gave her the answer. It was the day after Nicole and Waverly’s date at the cafe— no, not a date, Waverly had to remind herself. She and her sister were eating when Wynonna asked about the meeting for about the tenth time since it had happened.

“So, she just left?”

“Yes, Wynonna,” Waverly replied tiredly. “I already told you that, why are you still on about this?”

“I’m just trying to understand, that’s all. Doesn’t really seem like Nicole— uh, er, Officer Haught—“

Waverly rolled her eyes. “You can call her ‘Nicole’, you two do know each other after all.”

“Right, sorry again about that.”

Waverly just waved her hand dismissively.

“Anyways,” her sister continued. “It doesn’t really seem like Nicole to be so… cold, I guess? The whole ice queen act that she’s had the past two months, I get, ‘cause she’s trying to convince you, and herself probably, that she doesn’t like you. But I can’t believe she actually _feels_ that way after how well you said the first half of the… not-date was going.”

Waverly shrugged. “I guess I did more damage than I realized that night at the party.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Waves. It takes two to… do…, uh, whatever it is you wanna do. What is it that you want to do, exactly?”

“Just talk to her,” Waverly replied wistfully. “I want her to like me.” 

“She would be crazy not to, baby girl,” Wynonna replied sweetly, planting a soft kiss on her sister’s head before pushing back from the kitchen table roughly. “Alright, I’m off,” she declared.

“A nighttime visit to Doc?” Waverly asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Dolls, actually.”

“Wynonna! I thought you said—“

“Relax, Waves. It’s business, not pleasure.” Wynonna grabbed her jacket and gunbelt from the side table nearby. “Always business with that guy,” she muttered under her breath.

“What business could you possibly have at—“ Waverly glanced at the clock “—7:52pm?”

“It’s the second Wednesday of the month,” Wynonna stated matter-of-factly, “and the second that is when Dolls’ bosses send creepy dudes with a big moving van to pick up any specimens we might have for them. And for once we have specimens so Dolls and I have to catalogue them and such. I dunno, labels and whatever. _”_

“Ok but you have to do this at this time of night?” Waverly pressed.

“Yeah, I have to be there around 8 to give Dolls and I about an hour for the boring work, and then those creepy dudes show up around 9, once the station has closed up and everyone is gone. Granted, it’s usually a ghost town after about 7:30 because Nedley packs up and just leaves an unlucky deputy or two on for the last hour and a half until the night crew takes over,” Wynonna explained, before shrugging on her jacket and making for the door. “Alright, Waves, I’ll see you later!”

“Yeah, bye,” Waverly replied, lost in thought.

So the station was relatively empty after 7:30… 

She began to form a plan in her mind, about how she could get Nicole alone so that she could just _talk_ to the woman, for once. True, they’d been talking at the cafe both times that they’d run into each other, but Waverly hadn’t really had the chance to say the things that she actually wanted or needed to say.

She was scheduled to work Thursday night, so her plan would have to wait until Friday. As she envisioned it in her mind, and how she hoped it would play out, she found herself becoming increasingly optimistic. She just needed to make it through one lousy Thursday, and most of Friday, before she would finally get to confront Nicole, and maybe finally make some progress in the right direction.

_

The lousy Thursday was, as she’d expected, pretty lousy. That was mostly on account of her anticipation for Friday night that left Thursday to drag along in an endless crawl of a day. Her shift at Shorty’s didn’t start until 4 so she found herself trying to make herself busy for 8 hours after waking up in a nervous flourish around 7:30am. 

She’d been jolted awake by a dream involving Nicole, big surprise. She’d been plagued by those a lot in the recent weeks, and the moods of her dreams drifted with the emotions she’d been having towards Nicole for the past while. Sometimes her dreams were frightening retellings of the night of the party, except Nicole would get drunk and pass out in the cold. Or Nicole would fight Champ on the staircase, or Nicole would open the bathroom door after their kiss and run into Shae’s open arms.

Yet, some of her other dreams were of a more pleasant kind. She would actually be friends with Nicole, and they would be driving down a country road with no destination in mind, just enjoying the scenery around them. Or she would be sharing a bed with Nicole, sleeping in her arms, nuzzling into her neck. And every once in a while her dreams would turn more adult. 

She hadn’t dreamt of Nicole that way in a long time, not since the first few months after the party. But she would now, dreams where Nicole never left her in the bathroom. Dreams of Nicole carrying her into a bedroom and kicking the door shut behind them. Lowering her onto a bed and setting her skin ablaze with kisses. These dreams would never shock Waverly when she was asleep. It made perfect sense to her that she should be tangled up with Nicole under soft sheets. When she awoke, however, as she did that morning, it was with a startled gasp as she sat up in a panic and registered all the mature content she’d been dreaming about. 

_Damn._

Waverly gave a small huff, trying to gather her thoughts as she collapsed back into bed. The dream left her feeling a little conflicted, or maybe confused. She knew she liked Nicole, she couldn’t really deny her body’s response anytime they were in the same room. But her intentions for tomorrow night were just to apologize to the woman, start fresh, set them on the track to being… well, anything other than the hostile acquaintances that they were now. 

After a few more minutes of wandering thoughts, Waverly got out of bed and tried to figure out how she was going to kill 8 hours of her day until her shift at Shorty’s. Say what you would about Champ, she thought, but at least he’d occupied free time on the days when she’d needed to kill a few hours. 

She spent the early part of the morning making herself a wonderful breakfast feast for herself, complete with vegan pancakes and copious amounts of fruit. She killed the later hours of the morning doing the dishes from her personal buffet, and from whatever disgusting concoction Wynonna had made herself for breakfast the day before. Her older sister hadn’t come home from her late shift with Dolls, which Waverly assumed meant that she’d spent the night with Doc again. It was a good thing too, since she really didn’t want to have to clean up another bowl of… whatever it was that her sister had scrounged together for a morning meal. 

After finishing the dishes, Waverly glanced at the clock: 11:22am. She could live with that, only 5 hours until work. She skipped lunch, figuring she would just eat something before work to tide herself over, and decided that she would tidy things up around the homestead. She vacuumed the main floor, she dusted off some of the less used furnishings, and even went so far as to clean the bathroom, even if it was her most hated of the chores. Anything to kill time.

Of course, that left her mind free to roam, monotonous as the activities were. Her thoughts drifted to Nicole almost instantly, and she found herself wondering if the deputy would be at Shorty’s that night for her happy hour meeting with Nedley. Would she be wearing the same flattering uniform from that day in the station? 

Waverly tried to stop her thoughts from roaming like that, but it was just too easy to see Nicole in her mind’s eye. She sighed and resigned herself to an afternoon spent daydreaming. She hoped 4 o’ clock came quickly.

_

Finally, it was time for Waverly to start her shift at Shorty’s. Happy hour was just beginning when she settled herself behind the bar. She busied herself with cleaning glasses, checking stock, and filling a few orders for the customers sitting at the stools across from her. It wasn’t long until she saw two familiar figures walk through the double doors.

Nedley was Nedley, as always. He had this sort of small-town-sheriff saunter that most city slickers wouldn’t notice, but the Purgatory folk recognized it and respected it for what it was: the self-assurance of a man who knew his town front and back, inside and out, but never took himself too seriously. 

Waverly smiled fondly towards him as he entered the bar, and he gave her a quiet nod in return. He’d always had a soft sport for her, and when Wynonna had left and she’d had no one around, the sheriff had always made sure that there was a bed and warm meal for her at the Nedley residence if she needed one.

Nicole followed the sheriff into the bar, and the fondness in Waverly’s chest only strengthened as she caught sight of the deputy. God, she just wanted to make things better between them.

The two officers took their usual table near the front windows, and Waverly resigned herself to stealing glances at the two of them for the next hour until they left. Nicole had donned her over-sized jacket again. It was December in the prairies, after all. She shrugged it off onto the chair behind her and took up her usual pose when she joined Nedley at Shorty’s: she pulled out a small book and hunched slightly over the table, appearing totally engrossed in the contents of the tiny novel. Not for the first time, Waverly wondered what she might’ve been reading. Meanwhile, Nedley just settled back into his chair, rolled his head back and let his eyes drift shut ever so slightly. They couldn’t appear less interested in their surroundings if they tried. Waverly supposed that was the intention with their ‘observational’ meetings.

Eventually the two ordered their usual coffees from one of the servers, and Waverly brewed it for them from behind the bar. It had been long enough that she knew what they liked now. Normally, she wouldn’t presume to pour cream and sugar for any of the customers— coffee was one of those sacred things that people liked to craft on their own. Yet she was feeling a little adventurous, or maybe just bored and a little tortured by the errant glances she kept sending Nicole’s way. She decided to risk it.

Waverly knew that Nedley drank his coffee _almost_ black. If you asked the sheriff, he’d tell you it was black. But she also knew he liked to slip a bit of liqueur in there on the Thursday nights when they came in. Maybe a little something to look forward to near the end of the work week. She poured a trace amount of Baileys into his mug, smiling to herself as she did so.

Nicole’s coffee, on the other hand, was a delicate balance of cream and raw sugar, a precarious ratio that Waverly had yet to master. She was nervous about trying, but she was still feeling her earlier optimism about her Friday night plans, so she gave it a go and hoped for the best.

Once finished, she gave the mugs over to the server and let her know that she’d already made them to the customers’ liking. The server shrugged and carried the drinks over, and Waverly watched out of the corner of her eye as both officers grabbed their mugs, took tentative sips, and each sighed contentedly. Waverly let out a relieved sigh of her own. 

Neither of them glanced her way though, and that bothered her a bit more than she cared to admit. Even Nedley didn’t so much as give her a look to say ‘thanks’. She harrumphed and went back to filling other orders.

It was about 20 minutes later when the sheriff surprised her by walking over and leaning against the bar.

“Hello, Waverly,” he smiled politely, “thinking of becoming a— what’s that called, them who make the drinks at a coffee shop?”

“A barista?” 

“Oh, right. That. Is there a job change in your future ‘cause this place would certainly miss you.”

Waverly shook her head, a grin on her face. “Oh, no, no. Just thought I’d take a stab at your orders for a change. You come here frequently enough, after all.”

“Fair ‘nough,” Nedley shrugged. “You got ‘em both spot on, kid, well done.”

Waverly beamed at the sheriff, before pausing a moment and deciding to take a chance on something she’d been debating for a little while. 

“Sheriff, is, uh… is Officer Haught working tomorrow evening, by chance?”

The sheriff frowned slightly over his moustache. “You know, Waverly, it wouldn’t really be proper for me to give out my deputies schedules.”

“Oh, I… well— you’re right, I’m sorry,” she replied, a little embarrassed.

“Although, I think Chrissy mentioned something about you and Officer Haught,” he added, almost thoughtfully. “Somethin’ ‘bout—“

“Noooo,” Waverly groaned. A little embarrassed become a lotta embarrassed as she attempted to put her head down on the bar, only to spot a sticky spill at the last minute and grab a rag instead. She scrubbed away furiously, refusing to meet the sheriff’s gaze as she felt a heat creep up her neck and bloom across her cheeks. 

“Listen, if your Aunt Gus were here, I know what she’d say,” Nedley offered. 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. She’d say, ‘you’ve always been an honest kid, don’t stop now.’ And she’d be right.”

The kindness of the man never ceased to amaze her. She finished wiping up the spill and glanced up at him warmly. “Thanks, Sheriff.”

“No problem, kiddo.” 

He coughed a bit awkwardly before turning to head back to his table, where Nicole was glancing over at them curiously. Waverly hoped she couldn’t see how much she was blushing from all the way over there.

“She is, by the way,” Nedley said over his shoulder.

Waverly almost missed what he’d said, distracted as she was by Nicole’s stare. “She’s what?” 

“Working tomorrow night.”

Waverly blushed even more, but an easy smile tugged at her lips too. It was there for the rest of the happy hour, and even to the end of her shift. Friday night was a go.

_

Given the slow, aching crawl that had been her Thursday, Waverly figured that Friday would’ve been an even more brutal lesson in practicing superhuman patience. Before she knew it, however, it was approaching 5 in the afternoon.

The day had been spent in much that same way as Thursday, minus the daydreaming about Nicole. She was determined to avoid doing that until she’d at least cleared the air with the other woman. It would do her no good to be lost in those kinds of thoughts during their meeting.

Not that it was really a meeting. Waverly had admitted to herself that it was more of an ambush, planning, as she was, to arrive unannounced at Nicole’s place of work. It just seemed like the best and most realistic way that she could get Nicole alone. The other woman hadn’t spoken to her at all since their most recent mess at the cafe. 

No, instead of daydreaming all the ways their kiss at the party could’ve gone, if they hadn’t been interrupted (Waverly was _almost_ ready to admit to herself that she had serious crush), she focused her idle mind on rehearsing what she would say to Nicole when she confronted her later.

She started out in front of the mirror in her bedroom.

“Nicole, hi,” she tried, a little breathily. “Fancy meeting you here— no, god,” she smacked her forehead lightly with the palm of her hand. She tried again.

“Hi Nicole, I asked the sheriff if you were gonna be around tonight so I— god, Waverly, try not to sound like a stalker,” she chided herself.

It went on much like that for a little while, before she got fed up of practicing in front of the mirror and decided to just go over it in her head throughout the day.

By the time Wynonna came home, around 5, Waverly had more or less figured out what she wanted to say.

“Hi Nicole— pause to make sure she doesn’t throw anything at me or run out of the room — I just wanted to stop by and see if maybe I could talk to you for a sec. I wanted to clear the air after what happened on Tuesday morning —pause to make sure she’s actually willing to talk—,” Waverly nodded to herself in encouragement. 

“—I know that things didn’t end very well for either of us that night, at Russell’s party. We left on pretty bad terms. I wanted to tell you that I’m really, really sorry for how I treated you. It was stupid of me to hook up with Champ, and I never meant to hurt you.”

She thought it sounded pretty good so far. She was about to figure out what to say next, when Wynonna came gallivanting through the door.

“Honey, I’m home!” she sing-songed as she threw her jacket across the back of a chair and kicked off her boots. 

Waverly, seated at the kitchen table, rolled her eyes.

“How was work?” she asked.

“Good! Great, actually! We got an awesome lead on the Biletsky case courtesy of an anonymous tip—“

Waverly went from rehearsing her apology to envisioning slapping Nicole across the face in 0.3 seconds flat. An anonymous tip, not, ‘Nicole told us how smart you are’. Waverly readied herself to say as much to her sister.

“That wasn’t—!” she started, voice raised. Wynonna’s shit-eating grin cut her off.

“Relax, baby girl, I’m just messing with you. Officer Haught-sauce told Dolls and I all about how you figured it out. You know, Veles and all.”

All of her anger evaporated and Waverly let out a soft, “Oh.”

“Boy, you were ready to blow like a stick of Doc’s homemade dynamite,” Wynonna teased as she came into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. Waverly raised an eyebrow, only to notice the second glass come down afterwards that her sister filled with a generous pour of whiskey.

“Gotta hydrate,” Wynonna said with a wink, leaning against the kitchen counter. “Anyways, I wonder what’s got you so frustrated… so full of _pent up energy_ , I feel.”

“Knock it off,” Waverly grumbled. She felt silly for getting so angry so fast. She should’ve had more faith in Nicole. But who could really blame her, after the way things had been between them for the past two months.

“Just callin’ ‘em as I see ‘em,” Wynonna replied, pausing for a second by taking a sip of her whiskey before she added, almost grudgingly, “Dolls was impressed with your work.”

That caught Waverly’s attention.

“He was?”

“Mhm.” 

Wynonna was taking another pull of her whiskey.

“And..?” Waverly prodded.

“Jeez, Waves, no need to be pushy,” her sister muttered. “Seems he thinks I’ve been hiding that big brain of yours. He thinks it would be a, how did he put it, ‘valuable resource’.”

Waverly waited for Wynonna to continue, but her sister just took another sip. Her glass of water remained untouched on the table.

“So…”

Wynonna sighed.

“So you can join the team—“

“Yes! Oh thank you, Dolls!”

“—Hey!” Wynonna complained, “Big sister over here. You’re a consultant, okay Waves? A consultant _only.”_

Waverly was too excited to bother being annoyed at the job title. She wasn’t trained in ass-kicking to the same extent as Wynonna, considering her sister’s sordid history of gang affiliation and time spent in juvie. But Waverly knew her way around a gun, and she figured the rest could come in time, once she proved her worth to the team first. She gave out a little yelp of excitement. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she rambled to her sister. Wynonna just sighed and downed the rest of her liquor. She didn’t share Waverly’s excitement, that much was evident.

“Listen Waverly, if anything happened to you, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. Just be careful, okay?”

“Okay,” Waverly replied, smiling easily. “Besides, what’s the worst you guys have had to deal with? Some bears? The occasional undead serial killer, I guess, is pretty terrifying. But as a _consultant_ , I’ll be out of the way of the most of that dangerous stuff anyways. It’s not like you’re the third party in the battle between angels and demons, right?”

“Hmph. Sometimes it feels like it, although we haven’t come across any angels yet so looks like we’re the only good guys around,” Wynonna replied, a bit begrudgingly, before finally taking a sip of her water.

“Well, I’m really glad that—“

Wynonna spat the water at her sister in a thick spray of mist.

“—Ew! Wynonna, what the hell!”

“Just christening you in some Holy Water, baby girl. Welcome to the team.”

“You’re so gross,” Waverly complained, wiping the spit from her face. “Now I have to go change. You’re lucky I haven’t picked my outfit or done my makeup yet, or else you’d be fudging dead.”

“Waverly, we’re not 6 years old anymore, you can say ‘fuck’. Also, your outfit for what?”

Waverly realized she hadn’t shared her brilliant Friday night plans with her sister yet. 

“Oh, I, uh— I’m planning to visit Nicole at the station,” she explained. 

“Oh ho ho, and you weren’t going to tell me!” Wynonna cried out. “You’re lucky I’m such an amazing big sister. I won’t demand any payment for this damning betrayal. I’ll even promise to stay out of the house tonight, so you can _you know—“_ she gave a horrible, over-exaggerated wink to her sister.

“It’s not— that’s not—,“ Waverly floundered.

“Mhm, mhm, it’s okay baby girl, I’ve got you covered,” Wynonna declared, pushing herself away from the counter and sauntering out into the hallway towards her room. “Go get your lady!” she called from over her shoulder.

Waverly blushed beet red, but vowed not to let her sister’s antics throw her off of her game. Her apology game. She covered her eyes with her hand as she tried to avoid thinking about Wynonna’s not-so-subtle suggestion of bringing Nicole back to the homestead. 

They were just going to _talk._

_

Waverly parked the Jeep in the familiar lot of the PPD. She sat in the front seat for a few minutes, taking a couple deep breaths and running through her plan in her mind.

She’d opted to wear low-cut brown boots, light wash jeans, and a black crop top underneath a silvery-white bomber jacket. Her hair was down in its natural waves and her makeup was nothing bombastic. Giving herself one more once-over in the rearview mirror, she gave herself a quick pep talk before exiting the Jeep.

“Okay, Earp. Just go in there and say what you came to say. Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Although, it’s completely within Nicole’s right to say ‘no’ to anything, but— ugh, just go!” 

She huffed and threw open the driver side door, essentially launching herself out of the Jeep in an attempt to make herself feel more cool and confident than she actually was. She walked up the small steps to the front entrance and tentatively pushed the door open.

It was a little past 8pm and the station was a ghost town, just like Wynonna had said. It was pretty evident as Waverly made her way down the main hall that most everyone else had gone home. There was hardly a noise being made in the whole place, which any other time might’ve surprised Waverly given that it was a Friday in the Ghost River Triangle and that usually meant some supernatural shit was happening somewhere. Instead, she was just silently grateful that it was a quiet night.

She heard the telltale sound of a pen scribbling across paper and directed her gaze to the doorway off to the left where the sound was coming from. She had a flashback to several weeks ago, when she’d been walking down the same hallway and had caught that first glimpse of Nicole. It felt a little bit like another lifetime. She swallowed hard and made for the doorway.

It was a simple area that housed the deputies’ desks and the sheriff’s office. Nedley had his own personal space near the back of the room, complete with locking door. The deputies were relegated to individual desks scattered around the area, all behind one main counter that served as the entry point to the room. 

When Waverly rounded the corner, she caught sight of red hair off to her left, and spotted Nicole hunched over her own desk near the side wall. 

The deputy was wearing a simple blue button-up, part of the new dress code that Nedley was allowing. Her hair was loose, again, and she had an adorable look of concentration on her face as she dragged her pen across the page. Waverly paused for a moment to admire her, then took deep breath and knocked on the wood of the main counter. 

Nicole jumped a bit at the sudden sound and her head shot up, immediately looking for the intruder. She relaxed only a fraction when she saw who it was.

“Waverly?” 

She didn’t smile. But she didn’t look mad either. Just faintly confused.

“Uh—“ Waverly’s plan was suddenly a fading memory. Her brain desperately clung to it as her body began its familiar response to being in the same room as Nicole. Cue a pounding heart, sweaty palms, and the general inability to form coherent sentences. 

“—hi,” she finished, breathily.

“Hi,” Nicole replied, confusion laced into the simple response. “What are you doing here? Is everything alright?”

Waverly wanted to swoon a little, but she forced herself to remember that she had a mission. But it was just so like Nicole to worry about her. To put her animosity aside and immediately check to make sure there was no emergency. She really was born to be a cop.

“Everything’s totally fine!” Waverly replied, her voice a little too bubbly for the atmosphere of the room. She dialled it back immediately. “I was just coming in to say hi. I was… I was… hoping we could talk, actually.”

“Oh,” Nicole huffed in response. Not unkindly, just as if she were a bit… unsure. “Yeah, we can talk.”

“Okay,” Waverly replied, relief spreading through her. She manoeuvred around the counter and approached Nicole’s desk. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything important,” she added nervously.

“Nothing that can’t wait.”

Waverly settled herself in front of Nicole’s desk. The other woman had chosen to remain seated, but there wasn’t another seat readily available and Waverly felt awkward pulling a chair over. Instead she just stood in front of the deputy’s desk which, admittedly, was a little awkward in and of itself. 

She took a long breath and then began.

“So, I, um, I wanted to apologize to you. About the party—“

“Waverly—“ Nicole began, her voice like a low warning.

“No, please Nicole. I have to do this.” Waverly paused for another deep breath. “I’m really, really sorry for how I treated you. I… I shouldn’t have hooked up with Champ, and I’m so sorry for hurting you.”

Nicole paused a moment before she answered.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s fine.“ She made to reach for her pen, signalling that the conversation was over.

“Fine…?” Waverly was confused. Things had not been ‘fine’ the past two months.

“Yeah,” Nicole replied, too nonchalantly. “It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not.” Waverly felt a tinge of anger creeping into her voice, a manifestation of all the frustration she’d felt the past weeks. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?” Nicole huffed, looking back up from the desk. “I said it’s fine, so it’s fine.”

“You’re belittling me,” Waverly fumed. Nicole rolled her eyes dramatically.

“I am not.”

“Sure you are!” Waverly shouted. The tinge of anger was a growing spark, an igniting flame. “Pretending this isn’t important. Pretending it doesn’t matter. I’m trying to make things right, here, Nicole!”

“Make things right? God, Waverly, we kissed one time, three years ago. I said _it’s_ _fine._ ”

“Really?” Waverly scoffed. “So that’s it then? Well fine, if my piece is done, there’s nothing that _you_ want to say to me about that night? Nothing at all?”

Nicole frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Waverly planted her fists on the desk and leaned over. “How ‘bout ‘sorry for leaving you alone in the bathroom’? How ‘bout ‘sorry I abandoned you for my ex’?”

“You’re kidding,” Nicole growled, pushing her chair back and getting to her feet. “You want me to apologize for talking to my ex the same night that I got dumped? I’m sorry, did I miss the part where we kissed and then somehow I _owed_ you something?”

“You know that’s not what I meant!” Waverly straightened and threw her arms up in the air. It would’ve been a comical gesture were they not in the middle of a heated argument.

“Well, what did you mean?” Nicole was shouting now too, her arms crossed over her chest, fists clenched. “I haven’t been able to figure out what you _mean_ ever since that night! You kissed me, and yeah, I’m sorry I left you in that bathroom, but I told you that I would be back!”

“Now it’s my turn to say you’re freaking kidding me,” Waverly challenged. “I waited for over half an hour, alone, before Champ—“

“Of course! Champ,” Nicole groaned. “Champ this, Champ that. I get it, he found you in the bathroom and you were drunk so whoop-dee-doo, it made total sense to fuck him, I guess. God, you straight girls are all the same.”

“Straight girls—?” Waverly began, and then it clicked.

And everything made sense. 

“Oh, Nicole,” she whispered. Nicole either didn’t hear her or chose not to. She just kept glaring at Waverly from across the desk. “I have to say that that’s a really unfair statement to make about women—“

“—You know what I meant—“

“—but that’s really beside the point,” Waverly continued. “I’m not straight. I haven’t been straight since Russell’s party, maybe even earlier. You actually helped me figure that out, really,” she finished, laughing a little awkwardly. 

“You’re not— but Champ—,” Nicole stammered, her previous rage replaced with a sort of uneasy confusion. “Waverly, you dated the guy for three years.”

“I know, but that decision was not a reflection of my sexuality, it was a reflection of… insecurities, I guess. Limited dating options?” Waverly shrugged.

Nicole laughed mockingly at that. “‘Limited dating options’ my ass, you’re Waverly Earp. You had the pick of the litter, you could’ve had any boy you wanted.”

“Are you even listening to me? I’m trying to tell you that I don’t want any boys at all!” Waverly cried, raising her voice once again. She was beginning to become exasperated with their conversation. With Nicole’s stubbornness and the back-and-forth, hot-and-cold whiplash Waverly had been receiving for weeks.

“What _do_ you want then?” Nicole snapped at her.

“I don’t know anymore! ” Waverly retorted, side-stepping around the desk between them and advancing on Nicole. She was shorter but she was a feisty ball of rage and pent up frustration, so she made up for in imposing body language what she lacked in height. She jabbed a finger towards the deputy.

“The only thing I know is that I want you!” she shouted. “I want you, somehow, in my life. I’ve been trying, for weeks, to apologize about that party, to talk to you and start things fresh and maybe actually _make something_ here, but you fight me at every turn! I thought maybe we could be friends and—“

“Ugh!” It was Nicole’s turn to throw her arms up. “You don’t get it, do you? I don’t want to be _friends,_ Waverly! I’ve never wanted to just be _friends—“_

_“_ Jesus, Nicole, then tell me what you do want!” Waverly yelled. “I’m sick of playing this guessing game with you. Trying to decipher the looks you give me, trying to piece together all your different reactions to something so simple as seeing me. You shut me out, then you open up. You ignore me for weeks and then speak to me like none of it ever happened. Just tell me what you want!”

Waverly’s ferocity caught Nicole off-guard. True, the whole argument had been approaching an intensity and volume that wasn’t really appropriate for a public conversation, let alone one taking place within a police station. But seeing Waverly advance on her, eyes burning and voice hard, it served to unbalance Nicole’s anger just enough that she noticed other things as well. The flush on Waverly’s chest from her frustration, the fierce  green of her eyes  as she glared at her. The soft pout to her lips as she waited for Nicole’s reply.

“I don’t think—“ Nicole started, but Waverly was too quick. Too fed up with the inconsistency, the whiplash, and the gnawing uncertainty of the past several weeks, to put up with it any longer. 

“I don’t care what you _think_ , Nicole,” she argued. “What do you _want_?”

There was a beat of silence. Nicole had no immediate response, and Waverly’s question hung in the air between them. Chests heaving and breathing ragged from the shouting match they’d been having, they stared at each other, suspended in the eye of a hurricane of their own making.

Waverly had a fleeting thought.

_Damn._

That was when Nicole surged forward, reaching her hands to Waverly’s face and anchoring her in place. She brought their lips together in a rough embrace, like any moment longer and she would’ve lost her only chance. Waverly stood on her tiptoes, reaching her wrists behind Nicole’s neck and pulling her in tight. As their lips crashed together, Waverly felt something within her break loose. Or fall into place.

Their kiss was nothing short of hungry. They were done with words and they were done with the waiting they hadn’t even realized they’d been doing.

Nicole pushed Waverly back into the desk. The impact against her tailbone made her gasp a little, but she pulled Nicole back to her instantly, kissing her with a bruising desperation. She had never kissed anyone quite like this. Except maybe Nicole, that first time. 

Nicole moved her fingers from Waverly’s jaw to her lower back. She lingered there for a moment before slipping her hands behind Waverly’s thighs and lifting her onto the top of the desk. That elicited a louder, breathier gasp from Waverly. The broken contact gave her a moment to focus, but all she did was stare at Nicole’s lips, admiring how perfectly they’d fit to hers, before she crashed them to her once more. 

It was a familiar situation, to say the least. They were in the same position as they’d been in that basement bathroom, only this time there was going to be no pesky phone calls, no interruptions. Waverly smiled against Nicole’s lips at the thought.

She gripped her legs around Nicole’s waist and used them to pull the other woman flush against her. Nicole’s hands were back on Waverly, one was creeping up her neck, burying itself in her hair, while the other roamed the bare skin peeking out from the bottom hem of her crop top. Waverly sucked in a breath as Nicole’s fingers dipped, ever so briefly, beneath the waistband of her jeans.

Nicole made to pull back, maybe worried that Waverly’s response had signalled discomfort. However, as soon as Waverly felt her tug away, she hummed a forceful “nuh-uh” sort of noiseand bit at Nicole’s bottom lip. 

And that got Nicole’s attention right away.

She used the hand that was knotted in Waverly’s hair to pull her head back, breaking their kiss. Waverly gasped as Nicole began to kiss along her jawline, nipping here and there before giving her a much firmer bite at the base of her neck and running her tongue across the tender skin. Waverly let out ragged breath at the sensation.

Since Nicole’s mouth was otherwise occupied, Waverly tried to focus on what her own hands were doing. A hard thing to do, with Nicole kissing and biting and _marking_ her like that. She managed to slide a hand to the base of Nicole’s skull, where she dug her nails in and applied a pressure to Nicole’s head that definitely said ‘ _don’t you dare stop’_. Her other hand she used to trace along Nicole’s ribs, down her side to where her shirt was tucked into her pants. She tried to be conscious of the woman’s professional attire, but Waverly found herself clawing at the hem of the shirt, trying to pull it free to that she could touch the skin underneath.

When she finally tugged it loose and splayed her fingers against soft skin, Nicole let out a quiet moan, or it could’ve been a contented sigh. Some combination of lust and tranquillity and _finally._ It was enough to make Waverly want to kiss her again. Hard.

She pulled Nicole away from her neck. The other woman shot her a questioning glance for a moment, but Waverly just pulled her back in before she could say anything, pressing her lips to Nicole’s and revelling in the way they fit together. This was better than any dream. And better than a drunken hookup. This was kissing Nicole Haught, completely sober, completely sure of her feelings for her, completely willing to let her have her way with her right there on the desk.

Any surprise at that thought was drowned out by her desire, and Waverly hummed as she reached for the buttons of Nicole’s shirt. The motion made Nicole pause a moment, pulling back from their kiss, absolutely breathless.

“Wow,” she panted. “Waverly, I—“ she reached a hand up and gently covered Waverly’s fingers, which had been prying away at the buttons of her shirt. “We can’t do… _that…_ here.”

Waverly’s breathing was ragged too, and she bit her lip in deliberation before lowering her hand. “Can we— when are you done work?” she asked.

Nicole glanced at the clock. It was five minutes past 9.

“5 minutes ago,” she answered. “Are you sure you want to—“

“Yes,” Waverly cut her off. “I know what I want. I want you—“ she admired the way Nicole’s eyes lit up at her words, “—and I really want to finish what we started 3 years ago. No interruptions this time.”

Nicole gulped, nodded, and then gave her another desperate kiss before backing away from the desk.

“Just let me get my things.”

Waverly missed the contact immediately, but if things went the way they seemed to be going, she figured it wouldn’t be long before she had even more. She felt anticipation building in her gut, and a telltale pressure between her thighs. She pursed her lips to prevent herself from sighing, only a little worried it would come out as a moan instead. 

She admired Nicole while she was gathering up a few items from the desk: the paperwork she’d been working on, a case file, a notebook. Waverly could see that she was still breathing heavily, a blush creeping up her neck. It gave her a tingling sort of feeling to realize that she was having that impact on the other woman.

Nicole bit her lip as she reached for her jacket from where it was hanging across the back of the chair, before glancing up and meeting Waverly’s eyes. Waverly let a smile break out across her lips.

She had finally gotten to talk to Nicole.

Mission accomplished. 

_

Pausing their heated moment at the police station left them in a sort of limbo as Nicole locked up and they walked across the front entryway. They could talk, about anything really, except that neither one was thinking of anything to talk about. They were both a little lost in thoughts of clawing hands and swollen lips. But as they approached the mostly empty parking lot, Waverly broke the silence.

“Do you wanna, um, come back to the homestead?”

Nicole nodded a bit timidly, almost unbelievingly. 

“Okay.” The word left Waverly in a raspy huff as she directed them over to the Jeep. 

They got in, and Waverly threw the car into reverse as soon as it was started. She felt like she couldn’t get them out of there fast enough. She felt like if she waited too long, something would happen, someone would change their mind. 

The drive began in silence. What did you say to someone you’d been pining over for, if Waverly was being completely honest, three years, who you finally confronted, and kissed, and now were heading home to— She shook her head at her own thoughts. She didn’t want to overanalyze anything else with Nicole.

December in Purgatory meant that the sun had set in the early hours of the evening, and so the sky was pitch black as Waverly began to drive them towards the edge of town. The trip itself wouldn’t take much longer than 10 minutes, although the thought of spending all of it in total silence set Waverly’s teeth on edge. She felt uncomfortable in the silence, but awkward about saying anything, now that so many other things were out in the open. 

They were approaching the edge of town when they came to the final set of traffic lights before leaving Purgatory behind them. Waverly couldn’t pass the minutes in silence much longer, she was too consumed by the thought of the desperate feel of Nicole’s lips against hers to be able to have a normal conversation. She assumed Nicole probably felt the same, so she used the stop light as an opportunity to plug the Jeep’s aux cord into her phone and at least maybe ease the tension with some kind of background noise.

“You know, you aren’t supposed to use your phone and drive,” Nicole teased her from the passenger seat. “But I’ll let you off with a warning this time.”

“Mmm, so thoughtful of you, Officer. I bet you say that to all the girls,” Waverly rolled her eyes.

Nicole leaned across the centre console to whisper against her ear.

“Only the ones who plan on taking me home.”

Waverly coughed in surprise, as the light turned green. She fumbled with her phone, choosing a song and pressing play, before hitting the gas and leaving the town behind. She felt herself blushing at Nicole’s words all the while. A sidelong glance told her that Nicole was smirking at her from the passenger seat.

The highway was a narrow path in front of them, illuminated only by Waverly’s headlights. Sky, horizon, and the surrounding crop fields shared the same blackened landscape, and Waverly barely registered that she was speeding up the further they went along the road. It would only be a few minutes now before reaching the homestead.

“Nice song,” Nicole commented from beside her. 

_Been countin’ all your aces, you ain’t winnin’_

_Your phone book full of numbers ‘stead of names_

Waverly blushed furiously as she realized that the song she’d chosen was the same that they’d danced to at Russell’s party. She’d only been looking in her recently played songs, but had completely forgotten just how much this particular track had been on repeat for the past few days. 

“I, uh, didn’t realize—“ she started to say, but Nicole cut her off.

“It’s okay, Waves—“ Waverly’s heart fluttered at the nickname, the first time she’d ever heard Nicole use it, “—it’s kind of, like, our song.”

“Yeah,” Waverly breathed, still swooning.

They lapsed back into an easy silence, with no tension now, as they listened to the song— their song. It served to bring back memories of slow dancing, liquor in their veins, and a dimly lit hallway where they first kissed. It also continued to build the anticipation they were both feeling. They needed to get to the homestead, now. 

It wasn’t much longer before Waverly pulled down the familiar gravel pathway. She parked the Jeep and both women got out and made for front door.

“Is your sister—“

Waverly was shaking her head before Nicole had even finished the question. She unlocked the door, hands trembling only a little. Why was she so nervous all of a sudden?

She opened the door wide and Nicole followed her into the dark entryway. Waverly flicked on a couple nearby lights, before gently taking off her boots and tossing her jacket aside. She turned to face Nicole, who was doing the same.

“So, uh, this is it,” she stammered.

Nicole straightened after placing her shoes politely on the mat near the door. She took in her surroundings with bright eyes.

“It’s really cute,” she told her. “Homey.”

“It wasn’t always,” Waverly mumbled, before she caught herself, “But that’s… a story for another time.” She ran a hand along the back of her neck, her nerves getting the better of her. “Is this the part where, I, um, give you a tour?”

Nicole’s sweet smile turned mischievous, which did _unspeakable things_ to Waverly.

“Full tour later,” she smirked, “bedroom now.”

Waverly made a noise somewhere between a choke and a hiccup. Back at the station, she’d been all business, all fiery confidence built from frustration and rage. Now, she felt a bit like a small child with stage fright, unsure of how to begin but certain that she couldn’t stay where she was, lest she fall apart under the nervous energy of it all.

Nicole took a few tentative steps towards her, that easy, confident smile gracing her lips and setting Waverly’s heart aflutter. 

“I, uh, I really… really don’t know how to do this,” Waverly breathed. She’d spent so long working out how to talk to the woman, she hadn’t even considered what might happen next. She had no plan, which, for Waverly Earp, was unimaginable. 

“Oh, sure you do,” Nicole countered, her voice husky as she closed the distance between them. She was close enough now to touch, and she hooked a finger beneath Waverly’s jaw.

Waverly felt a little lightheaded. This was so different from the station. That had been her running on exasperation and frustration alone. That had been brazen and instinctual and driven by need. But this, this was heady desire and above all, it was meaningful. These actions had meaning.

That’s when she decided. Actions. No more talking, no more thinking. 

_Damn_.

She felt Nicole curl her finger, and she drifted forward along with the pull, until their lips met and she once again had that sensation of falling into place. Or coming apart at the seams.

They kissed softly like that for a moment before Waverly reached a hand up to the back of Nicole’s head, running her fingers through the hairs along the base of her neck. Nicole took the opportunity to place her other hand along Waverly’s waist, angling her even more into her, kissing her a little harder. 

Waverly pulled back, catching her breath before glancing up at Nicole.

“You mentioned something about a bedroom?” 

Nicole flashed her dazzling smile, “Yes. Yours, I believe.”

Waverly gave her a quick peck on the lips before turning and leading her towards the staircase. She’d grabbed Nicole’s hand without thinking and as she started up the stairs, she found herself pausing and turning to face Nicole behind her.

She had a flashback to the night of the party. To leading Champ Hardy by the hand, and seeing Nicole, and feeling like that was going to be the beginning of a series of mistakes that she might never be able to atone for. 

Nicole’s voice brought her back to the present.

“Waves?”

She said her name reverently, like a prayer. 

“Sorry,” Waverly huffed. “Just thinking.”

“About the party,” Nicole said knowingly, and Waverly nodded. Nicole smiled again. “Why don’t you show me your room, and we’ll see about taking your minds off of things.”

It was a sort of understanding, and forgiveness, in the simplest way. They could put those things, that night, behind them now. Waverly felt herself smiling in return, and she continued her way up the stairs, still leading Nicole by the hand.

They made their way to Waverly’s bedroom. She pulled Nicole inside, and Nicole kicked the door shut behind them. She tugged Waverly’s hand, still in her own, forcing Waverly to spin and face her, and Nicole surged forward to capture her in a fierce kiss.

Waverly reached up and settled her hands on either side of Nicole’s face, dragging her fingernails ever so slightly across her jaw. Nicole bit Waverly’s lower lip before running her tongue along the mark, and Waverly let out a faint moan at the feel of it. As their lips moved against each other, Waverly pulled Nicole back into the centre of the room, leading them towards the bed. 

The backs of her knees knocked against the mattress, and she pulled Nicole down on top of her. They broke apart, their breathing ragged. Waverly slid further up the bed until she could feel her pillows behind her, and Nicole followed suit, clambering until she was hovering above her. They looked at each other then, chests heaving, lips swollen, and Nicole gave her the smallest, most reassuring smile, before leaning down to kiss her again.

Waverly was propped up on her elbows, but as Nicole kissed her with an increasing intensity, she collapsed back onto the bed, reaching for Nicole’s waist all the while. Finally, finally, finally, she could get her hands underneath that blue button-up shirt. She untucked it from Nicole’s waist before reaching back up towards Nicole’s neck and fumbling with the buttons there. It was tough work, her hands were trembling from a combination of excitement and nerves, but Waverly managed. She undid three buttons before she got a glimpse of Nicole’s bra underneath. She pushed her away for a moment, breaking their kiss so she could press her lips to Nicole’s chest. It made the other woman gasp _oh so sweetly_ at the touch.

“ _Waverly_ ,” Nicole sighed, breathless. 

The way she’d whispered her name made Waverly feel like some holy thing as she brought her lips to the soft skin of Nicole’s chest. Nicole kissed along her forehead and her temples as she did so. It wasn’t long, however, before Waverly continued with the buttons of the shirt, and Nicole captured her lips once again. Waverly got them undone and tugged at Nicole’s shoulders, forcing the fabric down along her arms.

The other woman laughed a little at Waverly’s insistent touch before leaning back and pulling the shirt all the way off. Then, Waverly couldn’t help but stare at creamy skin and the maroon bra that looked like it belonged on a Victoria Secret model. She considered for a second that maybe it already was, given that she also found herself staring at Nicole’s toned stomach and strong arms. She was incredible. 

Nicole crawled back over top of Waverly, and it was her turn to tug at the bottom of Waverly’s crop top. She squirmed a little underneath her so that Nicole could slip the shirt off, and then she was left only in her white bralette. She might’ve felt self conscious under anyone else’s gaze, but she could see how Nicole was looking at her: like she was a work of art.

Waverly pulled Nicole back down to her, kissing her again with a hunger reminiscent of their kiss at the station. A kiss that felt like ages ago, now.

It wasn’t long before they were clawing at each other once again. Waverly pulling at Nicole’s hair and scratching at her exposed back, and Nicole running her hands along Waverly’s sides and over her breasts. They were panting between their kisses, and Waverly felt that if she didn’t get something _more_ , she would combust from the heat building within her. 

She reached for the buttons of Nicole’s pants, and at an insistent nod from Nicole, began the process of undressing the rest of her. Nicole had to lean to one side and kick a bit awkwardly to get her legs free, but then she was on top of Waverly again, and it was her turn to reach for the button and zipper of Waverly’s jeans. Waverly shimmied out of the pants as Nicole tugged them down her legs, and soon enough it was just the two of them, skin to skin. For the most part.

Nicole nestled back on top of Waverly, and the new sensation of bare legs against her served to make Waverly’s back arch at the contact. Nicole shifted and dropped a knee between Waverly’s thighs, and when she leaned forward to kiss her again, the contact made Waverly moan. Nicole was touching her _there_ , and even if it wasn’t with her hands, it was still like a fire in her veins.

Nicole dragged her fingertips slowly down from Waverly’s jaw, trailing between her breasts and down her stomach, before settling just above the hem of the white lace bottoms that Waverly was wearing. She broke their kiss to give Waverly a meaningful look.

“Can I—“

“Yes,” Waverly panted. “Please.” 

Nicole smiled as she dipped her fingers beneath the fabric. Waverly didn’t realize it, but she was holding her breath.

She had a hundred worries flutter through her mind in the next moment that passed. What if she was no good at this? What if she couldn’t make Nicole feel good? What if she felt weird, tasted weird? She’d had sex before, it was nothing new, but sex with Nicole? Her brain was about to set off in a panic.

And then Nicole touched her, sliding her fingers through her, and her brain had only one thought.

_Damn._

She was not prepared for the feel of it. The gentle pressure of Nicole’s hand pressed against her, the way her fingers mapped parts of her that had always been treated as places to be conquered rather than discovered. 

Nicole’s breath caught in her throat as Waverly tilted her head back and whined ever so slightly. 

“Is this okay?”

_God_ this woman was perfect, Waverly decided. She nodded earnestly, eyes closed as Nicole kept touching her, dragging fingers through her heat, thumbing slow circles around her clit.

“Can I—“

Waverly cut her off with another eager nod. She didn’t even care what Nicole was going to ask. The answer was ‘yes’. As her hips jerked under one of Nicole’s more insistent touches, she felt that the answer would always be ‘yes’.

Nicole leaned down and kissed her gently, something less rushed and more deliberate. Waverly wanted to return it with the same heavy longing, but that was when Nicole slid a finger inside of her, and Waverly let out a gasp at the feeling.

It wasn’t her body’s only reaction. Her back arched a little, one of her hands squeezed tightly against Nicole’s hip. Nicole took it for a good sign to continue, and she began a slow rhythm with her fingers, moving into Waverly as Waverly’s hips began to rock against her. 

Nicole dropped languid kisses against Waverly’s skin: her forehead, her neck, her collarbones, as she continued to touch her. She would’ve kissed her lips but for the increasing number of sighs and moans that Nicole had no intention of interrupting.

It wasn’t long before Waverly was working up to the edge. Her hips rocked with every push into her, her hands clenched at sheets and skin and she began a torrent of ‘yes’s ‘please’s, and the occasional ‘fuck’ for good measure.

Nicole made the decision then to change her position. She withdrew her hand from between Waverly’s thighs, and thought she might yelp from the sudden grip the girl had on her wrist.

“What are you doing?” she whined.

“Shhh, baby,” Nicole leaned down and kissed her, “I won’t leave you hanging.”

She winked and crawled down the bed, and Waverly let out a small squeak when she realized what was happening.

“O-oh,” she stammered, as Nicole made to pull the lace down her legs.

Nicole settled herself between Waverly’s thighs and kissed her on the inside of her legs. She glanced up at her. Waverly bit her lip and gave an almost imperceptible nod. Nicole kissed her again, from her waist down a line to her clit, and Waverly dropped her head back against the pillows and sighed. 

She hadn’t given much thought to sex with Nicole, or any woman for that matter, despite being increasingly convinced that she was gay. Well, she’d given it thought, but without experience to back it up, she hadn’t been prepared for what it might feel like. So when Nicole ran her tongue along the heat between Waverly’s legs, she wasn’t ready at all for the tremble that ran through her, a quivering deep down in her bones. She let out a breath, or a moan, or a gasp, she wasn’t sure. She made a sound and she clenched her fists and blood rushed in her ears in that way that makes you feel a little deaf. 

Nicole kept her tongue moving against her and trailed a hand up Waverly’s stomach. It was a sensation overload and she couldn’t handle it, so she just laced her fingers through Nicole’s and kept their hands together like a fist. Nicole didn’t seem to mind, and brought her other hand to rest alongside her own jaw before sliding a finger back into Waverly’s core. It made Waverly moan loudly and, not for the first time, they were both glad that Wynonna wasn’t home. 

The combination of Nicole’s finger inside of her and her tongue along her pushed her right back to edge once more. This time, Nicole went along with Waverly’s requests for her to definitely _not_ stop, and pretty soon Waverly’s body was trembling beneath her, her one hand a vice around Nicole’s, the other clenched tight against the pillow behind her head. 

“Nicole—fuck,” she gasped, before letting out a strangled cry and tipping herself over the edge, her body shaking as Nicole continued to touch her, bringing her through her orgasm.

As it passed, Waverly laid there panting breathlessly for a few moments while Nicole gazed at her.

“Wow,” she sighed. She tilted her head up to look down at Nicole. “Hi,” she breathed.

“Hi,” Nicole answered, smiling up at her. 

“Can you, uh, come here please?”

Nicole obeyed the request, crawling up along Waverly’s body, stopping to drop light kisses against her skin as she went. When she was close enough, however, Waverly grabbed her roughly and pulled her in for a searing kiss. She licked into Nicole’s mouth and against her lips, tasting herself and sighing at the very fresh memory of what that tongue had been doing to her moments ago. Nicole smiled against her and pulled back.

“Mmm,” she hummed contentedly, “How are you doing?”

“Fan-fucking-tastic,” Waverly replied, still catching her breath. “Is sex with you always going to be that good?”

Nicole smirked and raised and eyebrow at her. “Already thinking of next time, are we?”

Waverly bit her lip abashedly. “I, uh… maybe?”

Nicole leaned down and kissed her sweetly. “I’m okay with that,” she breathed against Waverly’s lips.

“Mmm, good. Although, I don’t think we’re quite done with this time, yet,” Waverly replied. “Just, uh, give me a minute.”

Nicole laughed and softly kissed the tip of Waverly’s nose.

“You’re trouble, Earp.”

Waverly grinned back at her.

“You don’t know the half of it.”

____________________

_The next day_

Waverly would’ve liked to have said that she woke up comfortably within the heat of Nicole’s arms. That she planted delicate kisses against Nicole’s skin until the other woman awoke, and that they looked at each other after their _extremely_ satisfying night and found that their eyes held admiration and longing and, finally, peace. Waverly would’ve liked all of that very much.

Unfortunately, while she was contentedly and cozily wrapped in Nicole’s strong embrace, that was pretty much where the serenity ended.

It was 6:00 in the morning when Wynonna burst into the room.

It was 6:01 when Waverly angrily shoved her out.

“You—are—such—an— _asshole_!” Waverly shouted, pushing her sister into the hallway. She had thrown on one of her kimono-styled robes to cover up. Nicole was watching from the bed, wrapped up in the sheet and looking at them with some mix of amusement and concern.

“I could’ve sworn you said you wanted to get up bright and early on your Saturday off!” Wynonna was insisting, shit-eating grin on her face.

“You dick!” Waverly yelled, slamming the door in her sister’s face.

“Bye Officer Haught-Stuff!” Wynonna shouted through the door. “Hey, I can back that up with visual proof now. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, Haught is _hot_.”

“Bye Wynonna,” Nicole called back to her. Waverly turned back to the bed.

“I am so, so sorry about that. My sister is—“

“—A shit?” Nicole offered, smiling knowingly.

“—A shit.”

“Yeah, but she loves you,” Nicole replied, “And it’s really okay, I think she saw more of you than she did of me anyways.”

“Well, still.” Waverly padded over to the bed, climbed on, and crawled up to Nicole. “I’m sorry about her, Maybe I can… make it up to you?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“Oh wow, it’s already that ‘next time’ you were thinking about, is it?” Nicole teased her easily.

“Hey,” Waverly addressed her sternly. “I’ve got to make up for about three years of wasted time.”

“Mmm,” Nicole hummed, knotting her fingers into the front of Waverly’s robe. “It’s a good thing now you’ve got all the time in the world,” she told her, before pulling her in and kissing her hard.

Waverly sighed against Nicole’s lips and fell forward into her.

_Damn_. 

She could get used to this.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading! Your comments are always read and loved, your kudos are always appreciated.
> 
> As always, I'm on tumblr as drank-in-lurve if you wanna gush about these cuties.


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